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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 

Chap.]:ii2,l Copyright No 

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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 




OLD ZION CHURCH, CAPITOL OF IOWA TERRITORY. 



THE 



MAKING OF IOWA 



BY 



HENRY SABIN, LL. D. 
Ex-State Supt. of Public Instruction of Iowa. 



AND 



EDWIN L. SABIN. 



CHICAGO: 

A. Fl,ANAGAN, PUBWSHER. 



TWO COPIES RECElVEi3, 

Library of C9ngt*$9Q 
Office of the 

MAR 9 -1900 

Kegl«f»f of CopyrlghtSi 



56192 



Copyright, 1900, 

BY 

Henry Sabin and Kdwin L,. Sabin. 



SECOND OOr'V, 



l^C 0-|lL\^ 



a\ 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. 



Preface. 

I. How Iowa Changed Ownership 

II. The Birth of a Territory 

III. The Birth of a State . . . 

IV. Iowa's Indians ..... 

V. How the Indians Lost Iowa 

VI. What Bi.ack Hawk Did 

VII. Keokuk, Friend of the Whites 

VIII. Other Indian Chiefs .... 

IX. Indian Batti^e Grounds . . . . 

X. The First White Men in Iowa . 

XI. The First White Setti^er 

XII. More Eari.y Settlers 

XIII. With Pike up the Mississippi in 1805 

XIV. How Lewis and Ci^arke Fared . 

XV. A Few Romances 

XVI. Trading Posts and Indian Agencies . 

XVII. Fighting Indians at Fort Madison 

XVIII. Other Iowa Forts .... 

XIX. The Rush for Land in Iowa . 

XX. Making a Living in Eari.y Iowa 

XXI. Life Among the Setti^ers 

XXII. Teachers and Preachers 

XXIII. Law and Medicine 

XXIV. Locating a Capitai. .... 

XXV. A L1TT1.E Border War . . . . 

XXVI. The March of the Mormons 

XXVII. Some Rather Extraordinary Coi^onies 

XXVIII. From Canoe to Raii^road 

XXIX. Iowa's Indian Massacre . . . . 

XXX. ■ Iowa and Si^avery .... 

XXXI. OivD John Brown 

XXXII. Some Iowa Wajr. Scenes 

XXXIII. The BATTI.E OF Athens . . . . 

XXXIV. In Ci^osing 



9 

17 

23 

31 

40 

47 

56 

60 

71 

79 

87 

94 

100 

106 

110 

116 

124 

132 

144 

152 

160 

169 

182 

189 

201 

208 

217 

221 

231 

241 

253 

263 

273 

277 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 



Oi^D ZioN Church .... 

WAPELIvO 

Bi,ACK Hawk ..... 

Poweshiek 

Appanoose 

Dubuque's Autograph 

O1.D B1.0CK House at Councii. Bi^uefs 

OivD Fort Armstrong . 

First House in Des Moines 

Hai^e Compi^eted Sod House 

Prairie Chickens 

W11.D Turkeys 

Schooi, House at Ahwipetuck 

Berryman Jennings 

Signature" OF Bishop Loras 

Mathias Loras 

Robert Lucas .... 

BuTi,ER Hotei, 

Oi,D Capitoi, at Des Moines 

Mormon Hand Cart Train Crossing Iowa 

Scene of the Spirit Lake Massacre 

Governor James W. Grimes 

Abraham Lincoln ..... 

Old John Brown ...... 

The Maxon House, Springdale 
Governor Samuel J. Kirkwood 



Frontispiece 



30 
46 
61 
65 
89 
135 
142 
150 
154 
162 
165 
170 
172 
178 
179 
192 
196 
198 
213 
230 
243 
249 
252 
258 
267 



PREFACE. 

My object in writing this book, "The Making of Iowa," 
is not to give a history of the State, but only a narration 
calculated to keep alive the memory of those pioneers whose 
achievements and wisdom laid the foundation for our insti- 
tutions. There is great danger that the stirring events of 
later years will obscure if not obliterate the record which 
these hardy men made under our Territorial government 
and in the formative years of our Statehood. An account 
of "The Making of Iowa," in the early stages of her growth 
and development will interest the children and induce them 
to read history, both for the pleasure it will give them and 
the information it will impart. 

The record has been followed in regular order through 
the earliest days to the times preceding the Civil War. The 
history of that eventful period is still fresh in the public 
mind. Here I have dealt with the past and with the deeds 
of men who served the State well in their day and have long 
since passed to their reward. Besides, the history of Iowa 
is rich in Indian names. Black Hawk, Keokuk, Mahaska 
and Wapello still live in the names of Iowa counties and 
towns. The land for which these brave chiefs contended 
is ours to-day, but they had many noble traits and their 
memory is part of the inheritance of the State. 



8 THE MAKING OF IOWA. 

In compiling this book, I have had the assistance of my 
younger son, Edwin L. Sabin. He took upon himself the 
task of looking up the material and selecting that which 
seemed appropriate. The arrangement is due to his skill 
and literary ability. It is with pride that I place his name 
on the title page as joint author. Thanks are also due to 
Hon. Charles Aldrich, custodian of the Iowa Historical 
Department, for valuable aid in choice of material and for 
suggestions in reference to illustrations. He has very kind- 
ly placed at our disposal many of the cuts which adorn the 
"Historical Annals of Iowa," of which he is the able editor. 

If the work commends itself to the children in our 
schools, and especially if it leads them to place a higher 
value upon the privileges of citizenship in a free state, the 
aims of the author will be fully achieved. 

Henry Sabin. 



CHAPTER I. 

HOW IOWA CHANGED OWNERSHIP. 

No man knows the age of Iowa. Its origin dates back 
many thousand years — so many that the mind cannot com- 
prehend the time. Geologists tell us that all Iowa was once 
covered by a sea ; that for another period a huge mass of 
ice, termed a glacier, enveloped the region ; and that when 
neither sea nor glacier was here strange animals and plants 
lived and thrived in an almost tropical climate. 

Finally hills and valleys, rivers and lakes, trees and grass, 
such as we see to-day, were fashioned, and Iowa was ready 
to greet the eyes of man. One race succeeded another, until 
the Indian was master. At last European nations sent their 
explorers and adventurers to carry civilization to this won- 
derful country. From the Atlantic coast, Canada and the 
Gulf of Mexico the line of settlement pushed on and on, 
until the Upper Mississippi Valley was reached, the river 
was crossed, and Iowa's prairies welcomed the whites. Iowa 
Territory was organized and soon Iowa State. 

So far as history shows for nearly two hundred years after 
Columbus' first voyage, the region now called Iowa was 
unvisited by a white person. It was still another centurv 
ere the white man settled here. While the States along the 
Atlantic were providing homes for emigrants from Eng- 
land and France and Spain and Holland, this section of 
the Mississippi Valley was inhabited by savages only. 

But although nothing of a definite nature was known 



10 THE MAKING OF IOWA. 

concerning the country in the interior of the new continent, 
several kings were anxious to own it. They did not un- 
derstand how great was the area embraced in the unex- 
plored portion of North America, but each was afraid the 
other would obtain too much land. Each, therefore, en- 
deavored to claim all he could, first, and investigate the 
property, afterward. 

As a rule all were disappointed in their possessions. 
When they had grasped by right and might every mile they 
could, they promptly undervalued the territory, and fre- 
quently they lost their interest in it. They willingly parted 
with districts that since have proved to be the richest and 
best country in the world. The old kings wanted gold and 
silver. When they did not find these metals they were dis- 
gusted. They were not content to wait for revenue from 
tilling the soil. They were anxious to get something for 
nothing — that is, they desired to procure gold at once, 
instead of earning it. 

Spain was first to claim Iowa. In 1493, the year after 
Columbus discovered the W^est Indies, the pope granted 
to Spain all the lands touched by the great navigator. It 
was thought that he had found a continent. An imaginary 
line was drawn from pole to pole ; the territory east of this, 
and not owned by any other Christian prince, was to belong 
to Portugal ; the territory west, to Spain. 

So ignorant were the people of those times concerning 
the world, that this line actually passed through the Atlan- 
tic Ocean three hundred miles west of the Azores Islands. 
Portugal received only an expanse of water! Even when, 
later, the line was moved about eight hundred miles farther 
west, the situation was little changed. 



HOW IOWA CHANGED OWNERSHIP. H 

England was determined that she, too, might as well 
have a share in the discoveries which were then amazing 
the old world. She granted to John Cabot and sons per- 
mission to go forth, and see what they could find. In 1497 
they landed on the mainland of this continent, in the vicin- 
ity of Labrador, and on this fact England based her claim 
to right of possession. 

Therefore, Iowa, in common with the rest of the conti- 
nent, was claimed by both Spain and England, at the same 
time. 

Spain really cuts but comparatively small figure in the 
story of the continent north of Florida's latitude. England 
pushed ahead rapidly in the work of colonization until 
France suddenly stepped in as a strong rival. It was France 
who was the first of all the nations actually to explore the 
Mississippi Valley, and by right of exploration assert her 
claim to this region. The French traders and hunters and 
missionaries were the ones who penetrated west of the Alle- 
gheny Mountains. They were the advance agents of civili- 
zation. 

The French had established a line of settlements extend- 
ing into Canada along the St. Lawrence River, and had 
named the country New France. In 1534 Jacques Cartier 
had discovered the river, and France gained a foothold that 
she did not relinquish for over two centuries. 

In 1673 two Frenchmen from the New France colonies 
led a small party westward, to see what was contained in the 
western portion of New France. These leaders were Mar- 
quette and Joliet. They went down the Wisconsin River 
into the Mississippi, and descended the Mississippi as far 
as the mouth of the Wabash River, in Indiana. Then they 



12 THE MAKING OF IOWA. 

were forced to turn back. What they saw in Iowa will be 
told in another chapter. 

Robert Chevalier, of the estate of La Salle, and commonly 
known in history as Robert de la Salle, or simply as La 
Salle, was the man who claimed the Mississippi Valley for 
France. While he was in Montreal he heard from the In- 
dians of a great river to the west, which he thought must 
empty into the Gulf of California, at that time called the 
Vermillion Gulf. He believed that through this river a 
route by water to the Pacific Ocean could be found. In his 
opinion Marquette and Joliet had not accomplished enough 
and so he determined to win glory for himself and his 
king. 

In 1678 he set out, and after many trials and disappoint- 
ments, in 1682 descended the Illinois River to the Missis- 
sippi, and the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico. Of course 
he soon saw that the direction of the river was toward the 
south, not the west, but nevertheless he continued until he 
attained the mouth. Here he built a fort, to prevent the 
Spaniards from using the channel. Spain had some colo- 
nies along the gulf. They formed New Spain. In 1541 
Ferdinand de Soto had discovered the Mississippi at a point 
in the present State of Mississippi. But as no gold came 
from this land Spain was not zealous in maintaining herself 
here. 

France may be designated as the first nation that really 
had the right to call itself owner of the Mississippi Valley. 
La Salle claimed for his king all the country drained by the 
Ohio, or River St. Louis, and the Mississippi, or Colbert 
River, and their tributaries. He named the territory Louis- 
iana. Thus Louisiana extended from the Alleghenies to the 



HOW IOWA CHANGED OWNERSHIP. 13 

Rockies, and from the source of the Mississippi to its mouth. 
What a vast claim was this of Robert de la Salle ! 

Now France and England were crowding each other on 
this continent. The French and Indian War broke out. 
History tells us that the French and the Indians were allied 
against the English, and that the English were aided by 
their colonies in America. At the close of the war France 
had lost Canada, and that part of Louisiana east of the 
Mississippi, The boundary between the French and the 
English possessions in what is now the United States was 
fixed in 1762 at the middle of the Mississippi River. 

The name Louisiana henceforth refers to the territory be- 
tween the Mississippi and the Rocky Mountains. 

France was a little uncertain about her ability at this 
time to keep her remaining American possessions. Great 
Britain was much stronger than she on the sea. So to 
please Spain, and as an act of convenience, in 1762 France 
secretly gave Louisiana to the Spanish government. The 
open transfer took place in 1769. Thus Iowa became Span- 
ish property. 

France did not intend that the act should be permanent, 
for in a few years — in 1800 — arrangements were made 
whereby Spain ceded back the territory to the French. But 
in the meantime while these explorations and transfers were 
under way, the American Republic had come into being. 
The United States achieved independence, and England was 
forced to give up all her property, south of Canada, on the 
continent. Then foreign control of Louisiana proved dis- 
tasteful to the United States. The people demanded free and 
uninterrupted passage up and down the Mississippi. So 
long as the Spanish exercised authority at New Orleans the 



14 THE MAKING OF IOWA. 

river traffic of the settlers was interfered with. The nego- 
tiations by which Spain returned Louisiana to France indi- 
cated that Americans would still be annoyed when they at- 
tempted to float their produce to the gulf. 

Many persons were ready to plunge the Republic into 
another war, this time with France, over the subject. But 
a much better solution of the difficulty was found when the 
United States proposed to buy New Orleans. The proposi- 
tion was met by Emperor Napoleon with a proposal to sell 
all of Louisiana. 

The offer took the people by surprise. They had not 
dreamed of acquiring such an extent of country. Quite a 
faction was opposed to purchasing it. The region was too 
large. It could not be used. It would prove a burden. 
However, President Jefferson directed that the negotiations 
be pushed, if reasonable terms could be agreed upon. Presi- 
dent Jefferson may have overstepped his office here, and 
certainly he offended a large number of citizens, but he 
looked ahead and saw the necessity for his course. He 
acted with farseeing wisdom. Time has proved it. 

The treaty by which the territory changed ownership for 
the last time was signed April 30, 1803. The price paid for 
Louisiana was about twelve million dollars, and debts of 
the French government amounting to some three millions 
more were assumed. At New Orleans, December 20, 1803, 
the United States formally took possession of the territory, 
but not until the following March was Upper Louisiana, 
with capital at St. Louis, transferred to the United States. 

Although all Louisiana was at this time a French prov- 
ince, Upper Louisiana was under a Spanish officer, as no 
French officer liad arrived to succeed him. The Spaniard 



HOW IOWA CHANGED OWNERSHIP. 15 

was Don Carlos Delassus. Early in March, 1804, Capt. 
Amos Stoddard, of the United States armv, with a detach- 
ment of troops, crossed the Mississippi from Cahokia, and 
entered St. Louis. Capt. Stoddard first acted as the agent 
of France, and received from Don Carlos the surrender of 
this district, according to the treaty made several years be- 
fore between Spain and France. On the next day Capt. 
Stoddard became representative of the United States, and 
by the terms of the recent treaty took possession of the 
district in the name of the American Republic. 

He published an address to the people of the district, in- 
forming them of the new order of things. Tidings traveled 
slowly in these days, and the residents of St. Louis were 
much disconcerted over the change in rule. They were 
accustomed to Spanish ways, they were acquainted with the 
French methods, but the thought of government by 
an entirely strange nation filled many citizens with alarm. 
Their fears were groundless and vain. 

No nation can to-day buy what comprised the Louisiana 
purchase, for many times the sum paid then. France was 
anxious to build up the United States as a rival to England. 
Napoleon hated Great Britain ; and it may be added that 
he hardly expected the United States would care to retain 
so much land. He figured that possibly a large portion of 
Louisiana could be secured later at a bargain. 

When France surrendered to England all Louisiana east 
of the Mississippi River, the section south of Iberville, 
about one hundred miles above New Orleans, was reserved. 
Thus New Orleans remained under French control, and 
was included in what retained the name of Louisiana. 
Whenever Louisiana was transferred, New Orleans went 



16 THE MAKING OF IOWA. 

with it. Louisiana, as secured by the United States in 1803, 
was the territory from the Mississippi to the Rocky Moun- 
tains, bounded on the southwest by the Spanish possessions. 
These were what now compose Texas, New Mexico and 
other lands toward the Pacific. The boundary was some- 
what indefinite, until in 18 19 it was fixed by treaty. In 
1 819 the southwestern boundary of Louisiana was desig- 
nated as follows : From the mouth of the Sabine River, 
which now divides Louisiana State and Texas, to the thirty- 
second parallel of latitude ; then north to the Red River, 
and along the Red River to the one hundredth meridian 
of longitude. The m.eridian and the river now form the 
boundary between Texas and the Indian Territory. Then 
north to the Arkansas River, and west. 

The Pacific coast was not included in the original Louis- 
iana purchase. Oregon and Washington were later — much 
later — acquired by the United States by right of settlement 
and prior discovery. California was obtained from Mexico 
by the Mexican War. 



CHAPTER II. 



THE BIRTH OF A TERRITORY. 



During the proceedings that resulted in the purchase of 
Louisiana from France, Robert Livingston, the United 
States minister to France, who had the matter in hand, said 
in a communication addressed lo the French official that 
not for a hundred years would the American people at- 
tempt to settle the country west of the ]\Iississippi. 

Perhaps he said this in order to make France willing to 
accept a low price for the territory, by giving out the im- 
pression that the United States was not eager to buy. It 
may be that Minister Livingston was sincere in his asser- 
tion. Many of the foremost men in the Republic believed 
that we were undertaking too much. They thought the 
Mississippi should remain the western boundary of the 
nation. 

''We shall have enough to do to occupy this region," said 
they. 

Such an opinion seems quite unwarranted, but how could 
the people of a century ago read the future? How could 
they imagine that before fifty years had gone by the Mis- 
sissippi Valley would be over-flowing, and that thousands of 
emigrants would be traversing the western plains and scaling 
the Rocky Mountains? The world never dreamed of such 
prodigies of emigration as resulted from the opening of 
this continent of North America, and from the liberty of- 
fered to all mankind. 

17 



18 • THE MAKING OF IOWA. 

It did not take even fifty years to demonstrate that Louis- 
iana Territory would be put to good use. Following the 
purchase changes occurred with such rapidity that the map 
makers at Washington must have been kept very busy. 

First, in March, 1804, about two weeks after Capt. Amos 
Stoddard announced at St. Louis the withdrawal of Spain 
and France and the establishment of United States author- 
ity. Congress divided the territory into two parts. The 
southern portion, now about covered by the State of Louis- 
iana, was named the Territory of Orleans. The north por- 
tion was called the District of Louisiana. 

The government of this District of Louisiana was placed 
in the hands of the ofBcers of Indiana Territory. Indiana 
Territory was just across the Mississippi. It had been 
formed in 1800, and was composed of the present States of 
Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, the west half of Michigan and 
Minnesota east of the Mississippi. 

However, within a year, in 1805, the District of Louisiana 
was given ofificials of its own. When in 181 2 the State of 
Louisiana was admitted into the Union, the District of 
Louisiana lost its title, and was re-christened the Territory 
of Missouri. 

In 1 82 1 the State of Missouri Came into the sisterhood. 
The United States was making splendid advancement. One- 
fourth of Minister Livingston's one hundred years had not 
passed, and yet so many settlers had entered the new pur- 
chase that two States had been made. 

When the State of Missouri was cut out of what was 
termed Missouri Territory, the United States seems to have 
forgotten about what was left — that is, the section of the 
Territory remaining, northward. This area, including the 



THE BIRTH OF A TERRITORY. 19 

present States of Iowa and Minnesota, along the river, and 
the Dakotas and others, to the west, was not provided with 
officers. No territorial government was afforded here. 
There were no courts, and no laws save those made by the 
settlers among themselves. 

Such a state of affairs prevailed until 1834. During those 
thirteen years, from 1821 to 1834, the west bank of the 
Mississippi was receiving settlers. In particular the lead 
mines at Dubuque attracted whites. At Dubuque occurred 
an incident which forced the people at Washington to rec- 
ognize the existence of the territory. 

In May, 1834, Patrick O'Connor, a miner at Dubuque, 
shot George O'Keaf, another miner. No provocation to 
the deed was apparent, and when O'Connor w^as asked why 
he committed the murder he replied : 

"That is my business." 

The enraged friends of OTveaf wanted at once to hang 
O'Connor, but were prevailed upon to give the man a trial. 
The court at Galena, Illinois, had given out word that it had 
no jurisdiction over the territory west of the Mississippi, so 
the Dubuque people were forced to depend upon their own 
resources. 

The prisoner selected his attorney, and chose the jurv. 
The jury sat on a log, and heard the evidence. The verdict 
brought in found for murder in the first degree, and fixed 
the penalty at death. O'Connor was sentenced to be hanged 
at one o'clock on June 20. 

During the month before the execution an effort was 
made to secure a pardon for the prisoner. The governor 
of Missouri said he had no authority over the case. Presi- 
dent Jackson sent word that the laws of the United States 



20 THE MAKING OF IOWA. 

had not been extended over the territory which included 
Iowa, and thus he could not interfere. He suggested that 
the pardoning power rested in only the settlers who had 
formed the court. 

At the time appointed O'Connor was hanged. The pro- 
ceedings of this impromptu court created much comment. 
Congress looked into the matter, and soon Iowa was under 
the control of Michigan Territory. 

Out of the Territory of Indiana the States of Indiana and 
Illinois had been made. Indiana was admitted in 1816; 
niinois in 1818. In 1805 the Territory of Michigan had been 
set of¥. With Indiana, Illinois and Michigan formed from 
Indiana Territory, there was left the northern quarter to be 
dealt with. In 1823 Congress took this tract, lying north 
of Illinois, and between Lake Michigan and the Mississippi, 
divided it into three counties, and attached it to Michigan 
Territory, which is to-day the State of Michigan. 

Counties in those days were much larger than we now 
understand by the word. Once all Illinois was but a county 
of Indiana Territory. In 1829 all the land south of the Wis- 
consin River, north of Illinois, and between the Mississippi 
and Lake Michigan, composed a county, named by the 
Michigan Territory Legislature, Iowa County. Here, in 
1829, we first hear the name Iowa applied to a political 
division. 

Thus the land east of the Mississippi was fairly well pro- 
vided for in the way of government. But all this time, since 
1 82 1, the country west of the river, and north of the State of 
Missouri, was obliged to get along as best it could. Now 
the miners at Dubuque had directed attention to the condi- 
tion of affairs. Congress divided what are to-day Iowa, 



THE BIRTH OF A TERRITORY. 21 

Minnesota west of the Mississippi, and the Dakotas east of 
the Missouri and White Earth Rivers, into two counties, 
Dubuque County and Des Moines (or, as it was then spelled, 
Demoine) County. Dubuque County was all that region 
north of a line drawn from the lower end of Rock Island 
to the Missouri ; Demoine County was the district south of 
the line. 

These two counties were joined, for judicial purposes, to 
Iowa County east of the Mississippi. As Iowa County was 
a part of Michigan Territory, the two new counties were 
attached to Michigan Territory. 

Dubuque County and Demoine County were referred to 
as the Iowa District. The name Iowa had at last passed to 
the west side of the Mississippi, where it finally became a 
permanent title. 

Michigan Territory then covered a great deal of ground ; 
too much, in fact. So in 1836 Congress determined upon 
another Territory, and called it Wisconsin Territory. This 
extended from Lake Michigan, north of Ilhnois, clear to 
the White Earth River in what is now North Dakota, with 
the southwestern boundary running from the White Earth 
River down the Missouri channel to the state of Missouri. 
Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa and half of the Dakotas formed 
Wisconsin Territory. 

Dubuque and Demoine Counties, which had been known 
as the Iowa District, now became Western Wisconsin. In 
September, 1836, the population of this region of Western 
Wisconsin was 10,531. 

The first legislature of Wisconsin Territory met at Bel- 
mont, in Iowa County, in the fall of 1836. In 1837 Flint 
Hills, now Burlington in the State of Iowa, was the tem- 



22 THE MAKING OF IOWA. 

porary capital of the Territory, and the Legislature of 1837 
met here. When a separate organization from that of Wis- 
consin Territory was asked for by the people of Western 
Wisconsin, Congress granted this request, and in 1838 a 
new Territory was made, and given the name Iowa Terri- 
tory, suggested by the former name, Iowa District. 

Iowa Territory was composed of the present States of 
Iowa, Minnesota west of the Mississippi River, and the 
Dakotas east of the White Earth and the Missouri Rivers. 
The act of Congress approving the new division went into 
effect July 4, 1838. The population of the Territory taken 
this year, was 22,860. It had doubled in two years ! 



CHAPTER III. 



THE BIRTH OF A STATE. 



For eight years, from 1838 to 1846, Iowa remained a Ter- 
ritory. Long before it was even a Territory, Missouri on the 
south and Ilhnois on the east were settled and admitted 
into the Union. 

The Indians were being pressed westward by the whites 
and were losing their homes east of the Mississippi. Final- 
ly they were pushed into what is now Iowa, and given reser- 
vations here. Until 1833 they were practically the sole 
owners of Iowa. For over a century and a half after civili- 
zation penetrated the Mississippi Valley — ninety years 
of French control, forty years of Spanish, and thirty of 
United States — Iowa was allowed to be a wilderness, trav- 
ersed only occasionally by fur traders and army detach- 
ments. 

The land was considered as belonging to the Red Man. 
Whites were required to obtain permission from the In- 
dians before trapping and trading could be indulged in in 
this territory. 

June I, 1833, five years before Iowa Territory was made, 
the first section of country within the present limits was 
thrown open for settlement. The Indians had opposed the 
government, and had created trouble that led to a short war 
called the Black Hawk War, and as a penalty a tract of land 
was taken from them. 

23 



24 THE MAKING OF IOWA. 

This was the strip known as the Black Hawk Purchase, 
so named because Black Hawk was the chief who con- 
ducted the Indian forces in the war. The Black Hawk Pur- 
chase extended along the west side of the Mississippi River 
from the north boundary of Missouri north to the Upper 
Iowa River. The Upper Iowa River is in the northeast 
corner of Iowa, and must not be confounded with the Iowa 
River in the southern half of the State. Therefore this tract 
extended from Missouri nearly to Minnesota. It was fifty 
miles wide at the ends, and forty in the middle. 

Onto this area of six million acres poured the settlers. 

The treaty transferring the land was made at the spot 
where now stands the city of Davenport. On Rock Island, 
opposite the point, was Fort Armstrong, garrisoned by 
United States soldiers. Cholera was raging there, so it 
was impossible to have the treaty conference occur in the 
fort. The council was held in a large tent on the west bank 
of the river. The United States was represented by General 
Winfield Scott and Governor John Reynolds of Illinois. 
Keokuk, Pash-e-pa-ho, Black Hawk and other prominent 
Sac and Fox chiefs represented the tribes. 

The scene of this fifst transfer of Iowa land from Indians 
to settlers was inspiring. The Indians were clad in their 
brightest colors, and their whitest deer skin ; but their 
clothes were by no means more brilliant than the uniforms 
of the soldiers, at that time gay with gilt and glittering lace. 
Rough hunters and trappers, mingling with the swarthy 
braves, crowded to watch proceedings. Below flowed the 
beautiful Mississippi, its banks rich in autumn foliage. 

The council was concluded on September 21, 1832. The 
treaty was ratified in February, 1833, and on June i, follow- 



THE BIRTH OF A STATE. 25 

ing, the Black Hawk Purchase was turned over to the set- 
tlers. 

The United States agreed to pay to the Indians, each year 
for thirty consecutive years, twenty thousand dollars, and 
assume debts which had been accumulating for seventeen 
years. These amounted to forty thousand dollars, due to 
Davenport and Farnham, Indian traders. 

The government gave to the widows and children of the 
Sac and Fox braves killed in the Black Hawk War, cattle, 
salt, pork, flour, and corn, in considerable quantities. 

The Indians had lived for many years on the banks of the 
Mississippi, and hated to leave scenes so endeared to them. 
So the United States allowed them to retain four hundred 
square miles of territory in the purchase. This ground was 
about what is now Louisa County. Through it flowed the 
Iowa River. The tract was termed the Keokuk Reserve, 
because Keokuk was the principal chief of the Sacs, here. 

In the Black Hawk Purchase the United States, at re- 
quest of the Indians who wanted to show their friendship, 
set apart a section of land at the head of the first rapids, 
above Rock Island, for Antoine Le Claire, a noted interpre- 
ter. This section is now occupied by the town of Le Claire. 
Where Davenport stands another section was set apart 
for Le Claire's Indian w^ife. 

The announcement that the government had acquired 
land which would be given over to settlement excited much 
interest among the whites who were then living across the 
river, in Illinois. They had heard of the marvelous loveli- 
ness of the country to the westward, and were eager to try 
their fortunes here. Some impatient ones had endeavored 
to establish their cabins in the territory while it was yet In- 



26 THE MAKING OF IOWA. 

dian property, but had been driven out by the soldiers, and 
with their friends were waiting another opportunity to take 
up claims — this time under government protection. 

By June i, 1833, the Indians had quietly withdrawn to 
the banks of the Iowa River. On the day appointed the 
whites hastened in, treading on the heels of the former own- 
ers of the country. Thus Iowa's future began to assume 
definite form. 

When, July 4, 1838, the act of Congress organizing Iowa 
Territory went into effect, the settlers had spread beyond 
the Black Hawk Purchase. The four hundred square miles 
saved for the Sacs and Foxes had been bought by the gov- 
ernment, and another strip of land bordering the purchase 
on the west had been obtained. The Indians had been 
forced away from the Mississippi, into the interior. 

A great tide of people was surging into Iowa. The 
New Lands, as the Territory was popularly known, at- 
tracted settlers clear from the Atlantic coast. So rapidly 
did the population increase that in 1840 Statehood was 
talked of. 

At this time the most thickly settled portion of the Terri- 
tory was along the Mississippi, and in width fifty or sixty 
miles. North of Dubuque the country was but sparsely oc- 
cupied. Clayton County had been organized in 1837. In 
1840 the population of Iowa Territory was about 42,000. 
In 1844 it was 82,500. 

In 1840, when the people were called upon to vote on 
the question of Statehood, they had a majority against the 
proposed petition. In 1842 the topic was again agitated, 
and again was voted down. The settlers voting "no" said 
that the laws of the United States and of a Territorv were 



THE BIRTH OF A STATE. 27 

good enough, and that Statehood was unnecessary. They 
were of the opinion that expenses would be greater under 
a State government. 

But in 1844 the Territorial Legislature again asked the 
citizens to signify whether they wished a convention for the 
, purpose of drawing up a constitution. This time those in 
favor of Statehood carried the day. In October, 1844, a 
constitutional convention met at Iowa City, the capital of 
the Territory. A constitution was prepared. Had it been 
approved by Congress Iowa to-day would be larger than 
it is. It would include a portion of Minnesota. 

This constitution in 1844 fixed the eastern, western and 
southern boundaries practically as they now are. The 
northern boundary, on the other hand, was a line connect- 
ing the mouth of the Big Sioux or Calumet River, at the 
Missouri, with the sharp bend in the St. Peter's, now the 
Minnesota River, in the present State of Minnesota ; the 
St. Peter's from this point to the Mississippi was to com- 
plete this boundary. Iowa would be a different shape, and 
the northwest corner would have been cut off, had the 
boundaries selected in 1844 been allowed to stand. 

But Congress in March, 1845, "o^ o^^Y rejected the pro- 
posed limits, but offered suggestions that were a radical 
change from those of the constitutional convention. Con- 
gress presented for the approval of the people of the Ter- 
ritory a new western boundary which passed from north to 
south on a line about forty miles west of Des Moines. The 
northern boundary was on a line with the juncture of the 
Blue Earth and St. Peter's Rivers, in Minnesota. Had 
Congress prevailed, Iowa to-day would be but little more 
than half as wide from east to west as it is, and would extend 
thirty miles farther north, into Minnesota. 



28 THE MAKING OF IOWA. 

Then ensued a warm discussion. The settlers were di- 
vided on the question of boundaries. Those in favor of the 
constitution of 1844, as amended by Congress, claimed that 
the western portion of the Territory was as uninhabitable 
as a desert, and would prove a burden to any State. The 
rumor went about that a committee sent out to look 
for a location for the capital and to see into the country be- 
yond the Des Moines River, returned, with the advice that 
the capital be established at about Oskaloosa, saying that 
forty miles beyond Fort Raccoon (now Des Moines) the 
region was not fit for settlement ! Some of the settlers 
maintained that if the suggestions of Congress were not ac- 
cepted the people would be given nothing. 

A campaign of education set in. The opponents of the 
proposed boundaries put stump speakers into the field, who 
demonstrated to the settlers the worth and importance of 
the Missouri Slope. ''Westward the course of empire takes 
its way" was the war cry. It won, for the constitution, as 
amended, was defeated in April, 1845. 

The Territorial Legislature asked the people to vote 
again, this time not on the whole constitution, but simply 
on the portions that did not deal with boundaries. At this 
election, in August, 1845, ^^^^ constitution was once more 
defeated, by a close vote of 7,656 to 7,233. 

In May, 1846, another Territorial convention assembled, 
to discuss the boundary problem. It deliberated for fifteen 
days, and finally selected the limits that to-day confine the 
State of Iowa. Congress approved of the work. The con- 
stitution, practically the same as that of 1844, save as to 
boundaries, was submitted to the popular vote August 3, 
1846, and was adopted by a vote of 9,492 to 9,036. 



THE BIRTH OF A STATE. 29 

The census of 1846 gave Iowa a population of 102,388. 
Ansel Briggs, the first State governor, was elected October 
26, 1846. The first State general assembly met at Iowa 
City, November 30, in this year, and In December Gov- 
ernor Briggs took the oath of office. The act of Congress, 
admitting Iowa into the Union, was passed December 28, 
1846. 

At this time there were some thirty counties, forming the 
eastern third of the present State. Many towns were spelled 
according to the Indian way, as Ouskaloosa, Ottumwah, 
Keosauque. Des Moines city was Fort Raccoon. 

Only a few Indians were in the limits. Some bands of 
Sioux roamed in the northwestern corner, and the Mus- 
quakies were in Tama County. 

Iowa was given over to the whites. Civilization had 
conquered. 




WAPE;i.I.O. (Fox Chief.) 
30 



CHAPTER IV. 



IOWA S INDIANS. 



Ages ago, when Iowa was much different in aspect from 
that which it bore when the whites first saw the country, 
a race of human beings not unHke the Eskimos inhabited 
this territory. The great glacier of the Mississippi Valley 
was at that time receding toward the north. On its edge 
lived a race of short, stout, flat-featured men and women. 
Of them we know little. We know more of the Mound 
Builders, who succeeded this short people. 

The Mound Builders were superior in intelligence and 
civilization to the glacier dwellers. They are termed Mound 
Builders, because all through the Mississippi Valley, and 
in other portions of the United States, especially east of 
the Mississippi, are to-day visible mounds supposed to have 
originated with this ancient people. 

In Jackson and Louisa and Clayton and Scott Counties, 
and in other counties in Iowa, groups of mounds are found. 
The Mound Builders evidently preferred the banks of the 
rivers for their works. Along the Iowa and the Des Moines 
rivers, and bordering other streams tributary to the Mis- 
sissippi, the strange elevations of earth are to be seen. 

The favorite location is the crest of a hill, or well up to- 
ward the top, on terraces. An elevation was chosen, per- 
haps because of fear of floods, or perhaps because of secur- 
ity against attack. 

The mounds contain skeletons, stone weapons, pottery 
and rude engravings on stone. Stone images of the ele- 



31 



32 THE MAKING OF IOWA. 

phant and other animals now foreign to Iowa are unearthed. 

It is conjectured that maybe the mounds originally were 
fortifications. The question arises, from whom was assault 
expected? Very likely from the Indians. 

After the Mound Builders had been for some time in 
possession of the Mississippi and Ohio River Valleys, sav- 
ages from the east and the west pressed upon them. For 
centuries the great Algonquin family of Indians had occu- 
pied the Atlantic Coast. They were encountered by the 
Norsemen who touched at Cape Cod in the year looo, and 
when nearly five hundred years later the English under 
the Cabots landed the Algonquins were still there. 

Some time, no one knows when, tribes of the Algonquins 
pushed westward, and by way of the St. Lawrence River 
and the Great Lakes overflowed the country to the south 
and into the Mississippi Valley. At the Upper Mississippi 
they met the bold Sioux, or Dakotas (Dakotahs), from the 
Rocky Mountains. 

The Dakotas had crossed the Rockies, and had followed 
the Missouri River and its branches eastward. These west- 
ern Indians were even more savage than the Red Men 
of the Atlantic Coast. When the two families clashed the 
Mound Builders were crushed. 

In vain they tried to oppose the fierce strangers invading 
the territory. Perhaps but slight resistance was made. Per- 
haps the fighting was valiant, and from their fortifications, 
now called mounds, the older people made long defense. 
Iowa was a battle ground, but the records are lost, save as 
the mounds would furnish mute testimony to the deeds 
that were. 

It is possible that the Mound Builders fled southward, 



IOWA's INDIANS. 33 

and that in Arizona and New Mexico and vicinity they built 
new homes. 

The Indians were left in possession of the Upper Mis- 
sissippi Valley. Iowa was now the field of a long struggle. 
The families overlapped here. The Sioux held the region 
in the north of Iowa and in Minnesota, and penetrated into 
Wisconsin. 

The Algonquins surged below them to the Missouri, oc- 
cupying the rest of Iowa and the north of Missouri. The 
line between the rivals reached about from the mouth of the 
Upper Iowa River to the mouth of the Big Sioux. 

The two families were bitter enemies. Whether the ha- 
tred began then, or has an origin farther back, is an un- 
answered problem. But always we find the Sioux, cruel 
and bold, and the Sacs and Foxes, crafty and brave, killing 
each other on every occasion possible ; and this animosity 
prevails to-day between all representatives of the Dakotas 
on the one hand and the Algonquins on the other. 

It is no wonder that the Indians refused to abandon, until 
forced to by a superior power, this beautiful region they 
had invaded. Iowa was an ideal home for them. On the 
hills and in the valleys were the deer ; on the prairies the 
buffalo. The noble wild turkey dwelt in the woods, and 
the prairie chicken and ruffed grouse were on every side, 
in meadow and in thicket. The numerous lakes and streams 
furnished fish, and afforded passage for the bark canoes. 
The plum and grape were to be had for the picking. The 
hickory nut and the hazel nut were plentiful, and maize 
waved in the fields. 

The Mississippi on the east and the Missouri on the west, 
with the smaller rivers traversing the interior between, were 



34 THE MAKING OF IOWA. 

highways from district to district. The cHmate, cold in 
winter, warm in summer, never was monotonous. The blue 
of the sky and the clearness of the air were not burdened as 
now with smoke from cities, but were just as nature has in- 
tended they should be. 

It is easy to understand why the poor Indians, removed to 
other places, returned in little bands time and again, to 
look once more upon the scenes they loved so well. Even 
the Indians of Michigan and Wisconsin, when brought to 
Iowa by the government, preferred their new surroundings 
to the old. 

The first Indians seen in what is now Iowa by a white 
man were Illinois Indians. In 1673 Marquette and Joliet, 
the French explorers, coming down the Mississippi, landed 
in southeastern Iowa, and encountered savages, who said 
they were IlHni, or as we term them by the French render- 
ing, Illinois, mini means "men," and when these Indians 
proudly said, "We are lUini," they meant they were very 
brave and superior to all other people. 

There are references in records dating about this time 
to Mas-coutins. The name Muscatine evidently is derived 
from this word. The Mas-coutins at one time lived on Mus- 
catine Island, and on other territory in that locality. The 
name is said to signify "place having no woods," or prairie ; 
some authorities state the true translation is "fire prairie," 
and that great fires used to sweep over the country in Mus- 
catine County. 

Long before whites came to Iowa the Mas-coutins had 
disappeared, and either were extinct or had united with 
other tribes. They are said to have been cruel and treach- 
erous, and unfriendly to the Sacs and Foxes, whom they 



10WA*S INDIANS. '35 

defeated in a great conflict near the mouth of the Iowa 
River. 

IlHni and Mas-coutins were Algonquins. But in the 
midst of the Algonquins dwelt for many years a Dakota 
tribe, the lowas. The name is spelt in various ways, for 
example Ayouas, Ayouways, Ayoas and Aiouex, but the 
English style is lowas. Because the State has the same 
name, these Indians are of especial interest to us. 

The lowas were in Southern Iowa when the first explor- 
ers penetrated to that section. Their principal village was 
in the extreme northwest corner of Van Buren County, 
where the town of lowaville now stands. Other villages 
were in Davis and Wapello Counties, and in Mahaska 
County, which bears the name of an Iowa chief. 

The lowas called themselves Dusty-noses, claiming that 
they once dwelt on a sandbar, where the wind blew dust into 
their faces. They were brave and intelligent Indians, and 
were enemies of the other Dakotas because an Iowa chief 
had been treacherously slain on the Iowa River by a band 
of Sioux. 

■ The Iowa Indians were divided into clans, designated 
Eagle, Wolf, Bear, Pigeon, Elk, Beaver, Buffalo and Snake, 
and distinguished one from another by the fashion in which 
the hair was cut. Pestilence and war reduced this tribe, 
until, after a massacre by the Sacs and Foxes in 1823, it 
ceased to play an important part in the farther history of 
this region. 

The Sacs and Foxes hold the most prominent place in the 
story of the Algonquin family in Iowa. The Musquakies, 
on their reservation in Tama County, are Fox Indians and 
are the only Red Men in the State. 



36 THE MAKING OF IOWA. 

About 1712 the Sacs and the Foxes became close alHeS. 
Formerly they lived with other Algonquins in Wisconsin 
and Michigan, but together moved to the Mississippi. In 
1805 the Sacs had four villages on the Mississippi. One 
was at the head of the Des Moines Rapids ; another about 
sixty miles above, across the river ; another on Rock River 
back of Moline's site, and another on the Iowa River. 

Fox villages are known to have been at the mouth of Tur- 
key River ; where Dubuque now stands ; at Rock Rapids, 
and where Davenport is located. The village on the site of 
Davenport was one of the oldest Indian towns on the upper 
Mississippi. 

At the mouth of the Wapsipinicon River, in Clinton 
County, once was a Sac village, but the largest community 
of Indians in all this part of the country was at an angle of 
the Mississippi and Rock Rivers, in Illinois. It was known 
as Black Hawk's Town, and was called by the Indians Sauk- 
enuk. Foxes as well as Sacs dwelt there. Its precise loca- 
tion was on the north bank of the Rock River, about a 
mile from the mouth. 

As a rule the Foxes frequented the west side of the 
Mississippi, the Sacs the east. Finally all were sent by the 
government into Iowa. 

The word Sac is asserted to be a corruption of Sau-kie, or 
Sau-kee. The Sacs pronounced it with a strong gutteral 
accent on the last syllable. One meaning given to the 
name is "man with the red badge," it being maintained that 
the Sac covered his head with red clay when he mourned. 
Accordingly the word Mus-qua-kie is held to mean "man 
with a yellow badge," because this tribe covered the head 
with yellow clay. On account of their thieving habits the 



Iowa's Indians. 37 

Mus-qua-kies were styled by the French, Renards, or 
Foxes. 

The Sacs and Foxes, after they had estabUshed them- 
selves along the Mississippi, proved to be the strongest of 
the Algonquins in and around Iowa. In other chapters 
we shall read more about them. 

The Sioux Indians were the sole possessors of Iowa north 
of the Upper Iowa River, and in the northwest portion 
above the latitude of the mouth of the Big Sioux. They 
were the Arabs of the Iowa prairies, and their hand seems 
to have been against everyone not a Sioux. The trouble 
constantly occurring between the Sioux and the Indians 
south of them compelled the government to interfere. In 
1825 a council of all the Indians in Iowa was called at 
Prairie du Chien. The chiefs gathered, decked in paint and 
feathers, each tribe striving to outdo the others. The Sioux 
came on horseback ; the Sacs and Foxes dashed up the river 
in their war canoes, singing their songs and boasting. 

At the council the ancient foes glared at one another, 
but order was kept, and no encounters resulted. A bound- 
ary line was fixed, to which the tribes agreed. The Sioux 
were to hunt north of a line passing from the mouth of the 
Upper Iowa River through the upper fork of the Des 
Moines River to the fork of the Big Sioux, and down the 
Big Sioux to the Missouri. The Sacs and Foxes were to 
keep south of this line. They gave permission to the lowas 
and the Otoes, both of the Dakota family, to live in this 
territory, with them. 

However, it was soon seen that the Indians were fond 
of sending war parties across the line, back and forth, hunt- 
ing scalps instead of deer. Therefore, in 1830, the United 



38 THE MAKING OF IOWA. 

States secured on either side of the Hne ground twenty miles 
wide, extending from the Mississippi to the Des Moines. 
This strip, forty miles wide, was termed the Neutral Ground. 
Indians of any tribe were to hunt and fish here, and no 
charge of trespassing was to be set against them. 

This answered the purpose of decreasing the encounters 
between Algonquins, lowas and Otoes on one side and the 
Sioux on the other. Then, in 1841, the government re- 
moved onto the Neutral Ground the Winnebagoes, who 
had been living in Wisconsin. In Algonquin the name 
Winnebago means ''turbid water." The Winnebagoes were 
Dakotas, and claimed to be the people from whom sprang 
the lowas, Otoes and others. They disliked to go onto 
the Neutral Ground, because on the south were the Sacs 
and Foxes, and on the north were the Sioux, and thus they 
were between two fires. 

However, they grew to love the Iowa reservation. After 
they were taken to Minnesota in 1846 they persisted in 
coming back, until civilization shut them out forever. In 
Iowa the Winnebago hunting grounds were along the Up- 
per Iowa River, the Turkey, the Cedar and the Wapsipini- 
con. 

In 1833 the Pottawattamies, with some Chippewas and 
Ottawas, all Algonquins, were removed from Michigan to 
the southwestern part of Iowa. The name Pottawattamie 
signifies "makers of fire," denoting a free and independent 
people who had their own council fires. The agency for 
the Pottawattamies was in Mills County, at Trader's Point. 
A village stood on the bank of the Nishnabotany River. 
It was called Miau-mise, and was not far from Lewis, Cass 
County. Here also was a burying ground. 



Iowa's Indians. 39 

It 1846 the Pottawattamies and the other tribes min- 
gling with them were sent farther west, but Hke the Winne- 
bagoes they returned to Iowa time after time. 

Long ago the Sioux had a large summer camp near 
where Dubuque is. They called themselves Dakotas, mean- 
ing a "united band." Their favorite haunts in Iowa were 
the headwaters of the Des Moines and Iowa Rivers, and 
around the northern lakes. They placed their dead in trees 
or on scaffolds. The Algonquins buried theirs. 

To-day along the rivers we find Indian graves, marking 
the resting place of some Indian of the Algonquin family. 



CHAPTER V. 

HOW THE INDIANS LOST IOWA. 

After the strip of land called the Black Hawk Purchase 
was acquired by the government for use by the settlers not 
many years passed ere the Indians had lost every inch of 
the woodlands, hills and prairies they once had owned. 

The transfers of ground were made through treaties. 
Delegates representing the United States and delegates 
representing the Indians met and agreed on terms. The 
government paid for the territory, and the amount and all 
other details were put in writing. The chiefs made their 
mark as signature. 

In a matter of business involving the sale of such exten- 
sive areas of valuable soil the Indians were unable to cope 
with the white man's shrewdness. Payment was made in 
money, merchandise, domestic animals, and gifts to half 
breeds. Sometimes the government also promised to lay 
out farms, establish shops, and bear expenses of removal to 
new reservations. 

While it was not the intention of the government to de- 
fraud the Indians, it is true that a mere pittance, compared 
with the actual value, was paid for the lands, and that after 
the exchange had been effected and the whites had obtained 
possession, the provisions of the contracts entered into by 
the government were not altogether carried out as agreed. 

40 



HOW THE INDIANS LOST IOWA. 4l 

The promises did not prove so satisfactory as the Indians 
had been led to expect they would. 

The Indians themselves were partly to blame for this, 
because they were easily influenced by unscrupulous whites. 
Whisky and gambling proved too fascinating. 

What appears to be the most unjust of the treaties made 
with Indians we know was that of 1804, when the govern- 
ment acquired from the Sacs and Foxes their lands east of 
the Mississippi from the mouth of the Wisconsin to opposite 
the mouth of the Missouri, all for the ridiculous sum of 
$2,234.50 down in goods, and annually goods to the value of 
$1,000. 

This treaty was so one-sided and the government violated 
its promises so openly that the result was the Black Hawk 
War and the downfall of the Sacs and Foxes. 

The first step towards dispossessing the Indians of their 
territory in what is now Iowa was made in 1830, when the 
United States bought from the Sacs and Foxes, Sioux. 
Omahas, Otoes and Missouris a portion of present Western 
Iowa, paying a small sum to each tribe. It was provided 
in the treaty that the Indians should not be disturbed, and 
certain advantages were given the tribes signing the paper. 
However, the government now owned the land. 

Then followed the Black Hawk Purchase, which went 
into effect June i, 1833. In 1836 the four hundred square 
miles reserved for the Sacs and Foxes, and comprising 
Louisa County, was secured by the whites, and by a treaty 
made in October, 1837, the two tribes were induced to part 
with a tract adjoining the Black Hawk Purchase on the 
west. The western line of tlie Black Hawk Purchase was 
crooked, following the general course of the Mississippi. 



•42 TrtE MAKING OF lOWA. 

This Second Purchase, as it was termed, made the bound- 
ary between settler's country and Indian country almost 
straight. Therefore, the addition was about twenty-five 
miles wide in the middle, but tapered off at either end. 

In gaining the Second Purchase the whites advanced a 
little west of Johnson County. Still they wanted more land. 
They looked with covetous eyes on the country to the west- 
ward held by the Indians, and they thought it was even 
more beautiful than that already under their feet. Only a 
short time and the Indians surrendered this, the last of their 
territory in Iowa. 

In the fall of 1842 occurred the treaty that stripped the 
Indians of the lands which remained to them after the Black 
Hawk Purchase and the Second Purchase. The Sacs and 
Foxes ceded to the United States all their territory west 
of the Mississippi, and agreed to leave the locality and go 
to a reservation in Kansas. The eastern portion of the ter- 
ritory stipulated was to be thrown open to the settlers May 
I, 1843 > that portion west of a line running north and south, 
about the longitude of Redrock, Marion County, was to be 
used by the Indians until October 11, 1845. 

The winter of 1842-43 was an unusually severe one. The 
prophet, or chief medicine man of the Sacs, had strongly 
opposed signing the treaty relinquishing the land, and now 
said to the Indians : 

'This cold weather and these hardships have come upon 
you because the Great Spirit is angry at you. You have 
parted with the last of your possessions. You have sold 
the homes of your fathers. Manitou is displeased." 

The Indians believed their prophet, and, when April was 
drawing to a close, with heavy hearts they prepared to leave 



HOW THE INDIANS LOST IOWA. 43 

for hunting grounds farther west. They went through a 
number of solemn ceremonies, to appease the Great Spirit 
and to bid farewell to the graves of their relatives. Some 
of the Indians could not keep back their tears as they 
mounted their half-fed ponies and turned their heads for a 
last look at their former dwelling place. All were sad and 
downcast. 

This treaty of 1842, by which the Sacs and Foxes sur- 
rendered their territory, termed the New Purchase, was 
transacted in a council held at Agency City, six miles east of 
the present city of Ottumwa. The deliberations took place 
in a large tent. Captain Allen, with a troop of dragoons 
from Fort Des Moines, was present to maintain order. 

John Chambers, governor of Iowa Territory, conducted 
the matter for the government. The governor was attired 
in the showy uniform of a brigadier general of the United 
States army, so that the Indians, who loved display, might 
be impressed. He and his aides were on a platform, ele- 
vated slightly, at one end of the tent. In front of the plat- 
form was a row of seats for the chiefs. Between the gov- 
ernor's party and the chiefs stood the interpreter. 

The Indians wore their best. Each had a new blanket, 
purchased at the agency store, and paint, feathers and beads 
added to the array of colors. Leggins were of white deer- 
skin. Bracelets on wrists and rings in ears jingled when 
the savages moved. As a mark of dignity the chiefs bore 
elaborately decorated war clubs. 

The Indians talked, and the governor talked. The words 
of each speaker were translated that all might understand. 
The Indian orators spoke of the beautiful meadows, the 
running streams, the sycamore and walnut trees, and a'l 



44 THE MAKING OF IOWA. 

Other dear things they were cahed on to deHver over to the 
white man. They told of moon and stars, wind and rain and 
sun, better than any other country afforded. They asserted 
no land was as attractive as Iowa. 

Governor Chambers gave the Red Men good advice. He 
requested that they live peaceably on their new reservation, 
and indulge in industrial pursuits so that they might be- 
come self-supporting and a credit to the nation. Thus they 
would be able to buy for their squaws and pappooses use- 
ful articles, such as blankets and calico and coffee. He told 
them to leave liquor alone. 

Then, after more talking, for the Indian delights to make 
speeches and to listen to them, the treaty was signed. 

While the treaties made with the Sacs and Foxes were 
the most important of those dealing with Iowa land, be- 
cause these tribes possessed more territory here than did 
the other Indians, the lowas and the Sioux also signed 
treaties. In 1838 the lowas transferred to the government 
all land which they claimed to own in Iowa, and in 1851 
the Sioux did likewise. When the country in Western Iowa 
was wanted by settlers, no one disputed their right to take 
it under the provisions of the treaty of 1830. 

Probably it was best for the Indian that he left Iowa in- 
stead of staying here in a vain endeavor to combat civili- 
zation. Even had he retained his territory, soon he would 
have been surrounded by the white settlers, whose ways 
were not his ways. He would have been out of place, and 
would have been a tool in the hands of scamps and liquor 
peddlers. The weakness of the whites became vices in the 
Indians. 

With the advent of the settlers the wild animals on which 



HOW THE INDIANS LOST IOWA. 45 

the Indians depended for food and trading decreased greatly 
in numbers. Deer, wild turkey and buffalo soon disap- 
peared entirely. 

A reservation of government land, watched over by gov- 
ernment officials, was the only place proper for the Indian 
after his haunts had been over-run by the whites. Civili- 
zation demanded his removal. But this picture of the Sac 
and the Fox, with bowed head half enveloped in a blanket, 
leaving behind them familiar valley and stream, and filing 
sadly over the Iowa prairie, bound eventually beyond the 
borders and into a strange country, is one that we must not 
forget when we say : 

''Lo, the poor Indian." 




BLACK HAWK. (Sac War Chief.) 
46 



CHAPTER VI. 



WHAT BLACK HAWK DID. 



Among the Indians who helped make history in Iowa, 
two stand out with especial prominence, because of the 
part they took in the first settlement of the country along 
the west bank of the Mississippi River. These two are 
Black Hawk and Keokuk, Sacs. 

Black Hawk was the leader of the war party of the Sacs 
and Foxes ; Keokuk was the leader of the peace party. 
Because of Black Hawk's actions whites were permitted to 
occupy Iowa land sooner, perhaps, than otherwise they 
would have been. 

Black Hawk's Indian name was a long one. It was Ma- 
ka-tai-me-she-kia-kiak, meaning a hawk, black hawk or 
sparrow hawk. He was not born a chief, but became prom- 
inent because of his deeds. As a boy in battle with the 
Osages he killed an enemy, and in other encounters he won 
so much glory that he was admitted to the circle of the 
braves, and to the scalp dance. 

When Black Hawk was nineteen his father, Py-e-sa, was 
killed by the Cherokees, in a great engagement in which 
the Sacs and Foxes finally were victorious. Black Hawk 
came into possession of the medicine bag of the tribe. The 
Indians believed this had been given to his grandfather by 
the Great Spirit, and it was considered the most precious 
thing the Sacs had. 

47 



48 THE MAKING OF IOWA. 

Black Hawk now blackened his face and retired into the 
dense woods. He lived apart from his companions five 
years, seeking solitude, where he might pray and talk with 
the Great Spirit. When he returned to active life he was 
looked upon as a very important person. 

The Sacs, with a few Foxes, were then living in Sauke- 
nuk, the noted Indian village at the angle of the Mississippi 
and Rock Rivers, not far from Rock Island City. Black 
Hawk was born here in 1767, and he dearly loved the place. 
The vicinity is beautiful now, but was ten times more at- 
tractive when the Indians possessed it. 

On one side of the village flowed the sparkling, singing 
Rock River ; on the other side swept the maiestic Missis- 
sippi. Maize fields rippled in the breezes. Heavy woods 
clothed the hills. Islands dotted the rivers. Game and fish 
were abundant, and when hunting was not occupying the 
young braves, and war excursions were not called for, the 
Indians gathered on the prairie to play ball — not base ball, 
but a game more like la crosse. 

The island in the Mississippi now called Rock Island, 
was the Indians' garden. Here grew their fruits, and along 
its shores were the finest fish. In a cave under the rocks, 
at the northwest side of the island, dwelt a good spirit, who 
protected the people. The Indians who had been fortunate 
enough to catch a glimpse of it said it had white wings, like 
an immense swan. 

The village, the island, the graves of their ancestors — all 
this loved country, the Sacs and Foxes were called upon to 
surrender to the United States. 

In 1804 a delegation of Sacs and Foxes visited St. Louis, 
and on returning to the village shamefacedly informed the 



WHAT BLACK HAWK DID. 49 

Other Indians that a treaty had been signed giving up the 
territory east of the Mississippi. The signing of this treaty 
was kept quiet, it is said, for some days, but when the act 
became known Black Hawk and others in the tribes were 
very angry. They claimed the delegates had not been au- 
thorized to sign such a paper and even asserted that the 
men had been drunk and then had been tricked into attach- 
ing their names to the treaty. A great protest went up, 
for the Indians did not wish to lose their homes, especially 
when so little compensation was received from the govern- 
ment. 

However, Congress ratified the treaty, and the protest 
of Black Hawk and his followers went for naught. Had 
the Indians been given an opportunity to reconsider the 
treaty they would have refused to support their delegates' 
action. But while the government always had a chance, 
through Congress, to decline to accept a treaty, at the 
council was the only occasion accorded the Indians to act 
on the matter. 

Although in succeeding treaties this treaty of 1804 was 
referred to by the Indians as legal. Black Hawk never ad- 
mitted it was right or just. 

In the treaty the government said that so long as the lots 
were not sold to settlers the Indians could live and hunt in 
the territory, as they always had. 

This would have been some satisfaction to the Indians 
had the United States kept faith with them. But in 1808 a 
detachment of soldiers arrived at the place where the city of 
Fort Madison now is, and prepared to build a fort. This 
was then Indian land, and the Indians claimed the govern- 
ment was doing wrong in erecting a fort west of the Mis- 



50 THE MAKING OF IOWA. 

sissippi, in this region. The presence of the fort and the 
garrison irritated the Indians, and finally they forced the 
soldiers to flee for their lives. 

When the War of 1812, between the United States and 
Great Britain, broke out, inducements were offered Black- 
Hawk to join the English. The English had proved better 
friends to the Sacs and Foxes than had the Americans. 
The Indians had been told they could obtain goods at gov- 
ernment stores on credit, paying for them when the hunting 
season was over, but at the opening of the war a number 
of Sacs, having visited a trader's establishment, were re- 
fused goods for wdiich they asked. When they returned a 
shrewd British agent sent word that he would give them 
whatever they desired. This contrast in treatment made 
the Indians like the English more than ever. 

The British sought out Black Hawk, flattered him, called 
him "general," and told him that if he would aid them the 
Americans would be driven back to the Atlantic Coast, and 
the Indians would, possess the country, as formerly. So 
Black Hawk and two hundred braves left to help England. 
They were termed the "British band." Keokuk and the 
Indians who favored remaining neutral stayed at home. 

During Black Hawk's absence from the village brutal 
whites murdered his adopted son, a mere boy, and the sup- 
port of an aged father. This greatly increased Black 
Hawk's bitterness against the Americans. 

He and his band did not stay long with the British armies, 
but within a year returned to Saukenuk. Here Black Hawk 
took part in several skirmishes on Iowa's very border. Two 
furious little battles were fought on the Mississippi, not far 
from the present cities of Davenport and Moline. 



WHAT BLACK HAWK DID. 51 

In the summer of 1814 a detachment of United States 
regulars and volunteers left St. Louis, in three barges, 
bound for Prairie du Chien, to reinforce the fort there. 
When they had passed Rock Island (the island) a violent 
gale forced the boat under the commanding ofTficer, Lieu- 
tenant Campbell, onto a small island ever since known as 
Campbell's Island. The Sacs and Foxes and Winnebagoes 
attacked it, and only a brave rescue by one of the other 
boats averted great carnage. As it was, after severe fight- 
ing, the whole expedition was sent hurrying back, in dis- 
order, to St. Louis, with a number killed. 

Major Zachary Taylor, afterwards President Taylor, then 
set forth from St. Louis to punish the Indians and establish 
a fort on Rock Island. By this time the British had reached 
the point, with cannon. The British and the Indians forced 
Major Taylor to retreat. The cannon assailed him from 
the shore, while the Indians swam or paddled out to the 
little islands in the channel, and from the willows kept up 
a deadly fire with rifles and muskets. 

In 18 1 6 Fort Armstrong was built at the foot of Rock 
Island, right over the sacred cave. The Indians complained 
that the noise frightened away the good spirit, and that 
they did not want soldiers so near. The fort attracted a 
number of whites, who quarreled with the Indians, and 
demanded that the lands be thrown open for settlers. 

In 1828 President Adams declared that lots should be 
sold. The Keokuk faction left quietly, but Black Hawk 
and his band refused to go. They said the Great Spirit had 
given them the land, to use. In the spring of 1830 they 
returned from a winter hunt to find the site of their homes 
had been sold. This was a blow to them. The hunt of the 



52 THE MAKING OF IOWA. 

next winter was nnsiiccessful, and they were disheartened. 
Their squaws planted corn, and the settlers at once plowed 
it up. The militia was called out to expel the Indians. Be- 
fore liie arrival of the soldiers Black Hawk's people crossed 
the river, and all that the troops could do was to valiantly 
burn the ancient town. 

Black Hawk established headquarters at the site of Fort 
Madison, the fort having been burned some years before. 
The season was too far advanced for a new crop of corn or 
beans, and when one night some young Indians swam the 
river in order to get ears from the old fields the whites 
tried to shoot them. 

When fall came the Black Hawk faction was destitute. 
A Winnebago-Sac prophet named Wa-bo-kie-shiek had 
sent word to Black Hawk advising him to resist the whites, 
and promised the Winnebagoes and British would aid him 
to regain his lands. The prophet's village was thirty-five 
miles up the Rock River. Black Hawk decided to visit it. 
He always insisted that his people started out merely to 
join with their friends in raising a crop of beans and corn, 
to prevent starvation. But the government did not trust 
him, and when in this spring of 1832 he and his braves, on 
horseback, went up the west bank of the Mississippi, and 
the squaws and pappooses in canoes ascended the channel, 
and all crossed to the Rock River, they were ordered back. 
They refused, and the Black Hawk War ensued. 

In this war the Indians under Black Hawk were terribly 
defeated. They were not allowed the privileges of a flag of 
truce, but in spite of offers to surrender were shot down 
by cannon and muskets. The war ended in an encounter 
August 2, 1832, at the mouth of the Bad Axe River, in 



WHAT BLACK HAWK DID. 53 

Wisconsin, where the principal band of fleeing Indians was 
overtaken and men, women and children were slaughtered. 
Black Hawk was captured by treacherous Winnebagoes and 
conveyed to Prairie du Chien. From there he was sent to 
Jefferson Barracks, at St. Louis. Lieutenant Jefferson 
Davis, afterward president of the Confederacy, guarded him 
on the trip. After a long conrinement, he was taken on a 
tour of the East in order to show him how powerful was 
the United States. In August, 1833, at Fort Armstrong, 
Black Hawk was released. 

He then Hved for a time near Keokuk's village on the 
Iowa River. The government had recognized Keokuk as 
principal chief, and Black Hawk felt the humiliation. For 
a short period he had a cabin on Devil Creek, in Lee Coun- 
ty. In 1838 he followed the other chiefs to the new quarters 
on the Des Moines River, near lowaville. His cabin stood 
about one hundred feet from the north bank. Nearby were 
two trees, an elm and an ash, with roots intertwined. From 
under these roots flowed a spring known as Black Hawk's 
Spring. 

In the fall of 1838 the old warrior became ill; in October 
he died. During his illness his wife was very devoted, but 
she said, with resignation : 

"He is getting old ; he must die ; Manitou calls him 
home." 

He was buried about half a mile from the cabin, at a place 
where the Sacs had fought a great battle with the lowas. 
He had selected the spot before he was stricken. 

His grave was unusually large. The body was interred 
in a sitting posture, facing the southeast. In the left hand 
was a cane given to the chief by Henry Clay. All the best 



54 THE MAKING OF IOWA. 

things Black Hawk had, when he died, were buried with 
him, together with clothing, provisions and tobacco suffi- 
cient to last him to the spirit land, supposed to be three 
days' travel. 

A physician dug up the skeleton, but the government re- 
gained it and deposited it in a historical collection at Bur- 
lington. Here it was burned in a fire that destroyed many 
other valuable articles connected with Iowa's history. 

Black Hawk was a true Indian, and had a remarkable 
number of good traits. He never drank liquor, and tried to 
prevent the whites from supplying it to other Indians. He 
had only one wife, and dearly loved his family. He was not 
cruel, and practiced none of the tortures of which savages 
are fond. 

While he was not a chief by birth, he was looked upon 
as a leader because of his great qualities of mind and per- 
son. In appearance he was dignified, but he was not a large 
man. He was of medium stature, and his frame was spare 
and wiry. His countenance was kindly, his head was finely 
shaped, and his eyes were extraordinarily black and 
piercing. 

When he lived on Devil Creek, near Fort Madison, he 
frequently visited the town. In 1837, and during the time 
immediately following. Fort Madison was a gay frontier 
settlement. The social life was brightened by a number of 
light-hearted young ladies who formed an attraction for 
the young men, far and near. Dances on the long veranda 
of the hotel overlooking the Mississippi were frequent oc- 
currences. 

The Indians attended these dances. Nes-se-as-kuk, a son 
of Black Hawk, was a handsome fellow, and received much 



WHAT BLACK HAWK DID. 55 

attention from the belles. Sometimes the young people rode 
out to Black Hawk's lodge, and took tea with Mrs. Black 
Hawk. She was proud of her little grandchild strapped on 
a board. When the visitors praised the baby the grand- 
mother was highly delighted. 

At one ball given at the hotel, Black Hawk appeared at- 
tired in the uniform of a British general, while Mrs. Black 
Hawk wore a hat of wonderful construction. Black Hawk 
at this time had no hair save his scalp lock. 

The old warrior had a strong appreciation of the beauties 
of nature. At his favorite spot, the summit of a lofty prom- 
ontory overlooking the Rock River, not far from Saukenuk, 
he used to sit and smoke and gaze out over the landscape. 
The place is now called Black Hawk's Watch Tower. 

A Frenchman, who lived in the village, was playing his 
violin on this height, one night, for the amusement of the 
Indians, and fell backward, ofif the cliff, to his death. Ac- 
cording to the Indians, the sounds of the violin can be 
heard each year, on the anniversary of the fatality. 

Black Hawk was honest in his opposition to the whites. 
He endeavored to preserve his native land. But he only 
hastened the onward march of civilization, for he afforded 
opportunity to the government to exact territory as a 
penalty. 

The name of the chief is alive to-day as the title of an 
Iowa county — Black Hawk County. 



CHAPTER VII. 

KEOKUK, FRIEND OF THE WHITES. 

Keokuk was Black Hawk's rival, and was placed over 
him by the government. He was not so great a warrior as 
Black Hawk, but he was a finer orator, and was shrewder. 
His name means *' watchful fox." In a treaty which he 
signed it is spelled Keeokuk, and after it is written, "he who 
has been everywhere." He was born about 1780, in the 
Rock River village. 

He was not a chief by birth. He gained a high position 
on account of his qualities, and because of government in- 
fluence. But he showed he could fight, when in a battle he 
gallantly killed a Sioux brave. Both were on horseback, 
and as the Sioux were considered to be better horsemen 
than other Indians, Keokuk was thought to have done a 
great feat. In other conflicts with the Sioux, Keokuk 
proved to be such a strategist that he won much admira- 
tion. He overcame the foe by trickery as much as by ar- 
rows and spears. 

We have seen that he and his people moved peaceably 
across the river when ordered by the government. Keokuk 
probably felt that opposition would be of no use. He 
looked ahead. His reason, which was of such advantage 
in fighting, enabled him to see that the wisest plan was to 
yield to the superior force of the whites. 

Before this time he had attracted favorable notice from 
a considerable part of the Sacs and Foxes. When Black 

56 



KEOKUK, FRIEND OF THE WHITES. 57 

Hawk and his band were away during the War of 1812, the 
Indians remaining in the village discussed the question of 
defense thinking the village was to be attacked. Keokuk 
volunteered to be leader, and this readiness to be in the 
front in danger earned him great praise. 

After Black Hawk returned from the war Keokuk was 
recognized as head of one faction. When the surrender of 
their lands came up, Keokuk argued it was better to obey 
the government, and have peace. In this he opposed Black 
Hawk, and was called coward by the more warlike Indians. 

So Keokuk and his followers went across the river, and 
settled in Iowa. Black Hawk and his discontented people 
stayed in Illinois. We know what happened because of the 
course they took. 

They tried in vain to induce Keokuk to join them in their 
contest. For a time Keokuk's people were eager for war, 
and their minds were inflamed by Black Hawk and his mes- 
sengers. Keokuk addressed them and put the matter in 
such a light that they decided it was wiser to keep peace. 

In the speech which he made he said he would lead 
them against the whites, but on the condition ''that we first 
put our wives and children and old men gently to sleep in 
that slumber that knows no waking this side of spirit land, 
for we go upon the long trail which has no turn." 

The advice to kill those who could not fight showed the 
case was so desperate that the Indians determined not to 
assist Black Hawk. 

When Keokuk left the Sac village on the Rock River, he 
established a new village on the west shore of a lake about 
six miles southwest of Muscatine City of to-day, along the 
slough. It occupied nearly all the bottom land there, about 



58 THE MAKING OF, IOWA. 

forty acres. In 1834 the Indians raised their last crop of 
corn on this land, and thereafter confined themselves to 
their territory immediately about the Iowa River, until they 
gave up their reservation and went to the Des Moines 
River. 

Keokuk had been recognized, instead of Black Hawk, by 
the United States as in authority over the Indians. His 
village was on the right bank of the Iowa River, in the 
midst of the tract of four hundred square miles reserved for 
the Indians when they transferred the Black Hawk Pur- 
chase to the government, at the close of the Black Hawk 
War. 

When this reservation was sold, in 1836, the Sacs and 
Foxes moved to the Des Moines River, and Keokuk had 
his lodge near lowaville, on the south bank of the stream. 

In 1837 a son of Keokuk died. Just before he passed 
away he asked that his fine horse be sent with him to spirit 
land. So the horse, all saddled and bridled, was led to the 
grave, and shot through the head. For several years after 
the remains of the animal, and of the trappings, were to be 
seen on the ground beside the grave. Traces of Keokuk's 
lodge, also, could be discerned for a long time after all the 
Indians had left the region. 

About the last village of the Sacs and Foxes under Keo- 
kuk was near the mouth of Sugar Creek, not far from where 
Ottumwa now is. After Black Hawk's death bad feeling 
between his band and the Keokuk people increased. Hard 
Fish succeeded Black Hawk as leader of the faction. He 
and his men accused Keokuk of stealing money which was 
being paid each year by the government in accordance with 
treaties. Keokuk distributed the money, and it was clauiied 



KEOKUK, FRIEND OF THE WHITES. 59 

he dealt wrongly with portions of it. Once he was stabbed 
by Nes-se-as-kuk, one of Black Hawk's sons, and was con- 
veyed up the Des Moines River in a canoe to his home. 

Keokuk was not so great an Indian as Black Hawk. He 
was addicted to the use of liquor, and drank to excess. It 
is claimed that he died because of these indulgencies. At 
any rate, after he had gone to Kansas, with his tribe, he 
became very dissipated. In other habits of life, also, he 
was less high minded than was his rival. 

Keokuk was a well proportioned man, rather tall, and of 
splendid appearance. He had an open, intelligent counte- 
nance. He prided himself on his horsemanship and his 
dancing. His passion was for horses, next to whiskey, 
and he owned a number of fast animals. 

He was fond of display. When he moved about from 
clan to clan he was attended by three or four wives, and a 
company of favorites, all elaborately attired. 

His position as friend and especial pet of the government 
gained him many privileges, and created jealousy, so that 
we cannot tell how true were the charges made against him 
of swindling and theft. 

We must remember Keokuk as a great orator, one of the 
greatest among all the Indians, and as a diplomat. He had 
rare ability to take the wisest and safest course, and to do 
what would have the best effect. But morally he was not 
great. 

Keokuk County and city bear the name of the chief. 



CHAPTER VIII. 



OTHER INDIAN CHIEFS. 



Of course besides Black Hawk and Keokuk there were 
many Indians in Iowa who were well known to the early 
settlers, and whose names are closely associated with the 
growth of the State. 

There was Mahaska, chief of the lowas, and Rant-che- 
wai-me, his beautiful and gentle wife. Mahaska means 
"white cloud," and Rant-che-wai-me means "female flying 
pigeon" ; the people of her tribe also called her "beau- 
tiful-female-eagle-that-flies-in-the-air." For a long time 
Mahaska's lodge was on the Des Moines River, about one 
hundred miles from its mouth. 

In 1824 he, with some of his braves, visited Washington. 
His party had gone ahead of him. He was overtaking them, 
and one night stopped to roast some venison. A blow on 
the back startled him. He turned around and saw his wife, 
Rant-che-wai-me, with uplifted tomahawk. She said : 

'*Am I your wife? Are you my husband? If so I will go 
with you to Maw-he-hum-ne-che (the American big-house) 
and see and shake the hand of In-co-ho-nee (great father)." 

Mahaska replied : "Yes, you are my wife ; I am your 
husband ; I have been away from you a long time ; I am 
glad to see you ; you are my pretty wife, and a brave man 
always loves to see a pretty woman." 

60 




POWESHIEK. (Fox Chief.) 



61 



62 THE MAKING OF IOWA. 

So Rant-che-wai-me went with her husband to Washing- 
ton, and attracted great attention there. She saw much 
in the white women that she thought was wicked, and when 
she returned to her village she called all the squaws around 
her, and told them about it, as a warning, that they should 
not try to imitate their white sisters. 

Rant-che-wai-me appears to have been a very noble wom- 
an. She was benevolent and tender hearted and charitable, 
and prayed much to the Great Spirit. Her husband had six 
other wives, but he liked her best of all. 

Mahaska was a famous warrior. His father, Man-haw- 
gaw (Wounding Arrow) was slain treacherously by the 
Sioux, near the mouth of the Iowa River. The son was 
then quite young, but he immediately avenged the chief's 
death, for during a battle he slew the Sioux who had mur- 
dered Man-haw-gaw. 

Mahaska himself was shot from ambush by some of his 
own men whom he had caused to be arrested on complaint 
by the government. The deed was committed in what is 
now the southeastern part of Cass County. Mahaska was 
then fifty years old. The murderers were caught and exe- 
cuted by the Otoes and Omahas. 

Before this Rant-che-wai-me had been killed by a fall 
from her horse. Her son, young Mahaska, succeeded his 
father as leader of the lowas. Other Iowa chiefs were Na- 
che-wing (No-heart-of-fear), Neu-mon-ga (Walking Rain), 
and He-wa-tho-cha (One-who-sheds-his-hair). But old Ma- 
haska was the greatest of all. Mahaska County preserves 
his memory. 

Winneshiek was a noted Winnebago chief. His true In- 
dian name was Wau-kon-chaw-koo-kah. He was not verv 



OTHER INDIAN CHIEFS. 63 

friendly toward the whites, but was popular with his peo- 
ple, and was brave in danger. When he was a boy of fifteen, 
during hostilities with the whites, he was captured by 
troops, in Wisconsin. He refused to surrender, but sat de- 
fiantly on his horse, his gun in his hands. Colonel Dodge, 
in command of the soldiers, rode up to him and took away 
the gun. 

Winneshiek was with Black Hawk's forces in the Black 
Hawk War. When made prisoner he declined to tell where 
Black Hawk was. Colonel Dodge reminded him of the for- 
mer time when his life had been saved, but Winneshiek re- 
plied that it would have been better had he died then. 

He was made head chief in 1845. He used Hquor moder- 
ately. He was a thorough Indian, in religion and in all the 
ways of life. Winneshiek County is named after him. 

Waukon-Decorah was another distinguished chief of the 
Winnebagoes. His name means ''white snake." He was 
only about five feet in height. He was an orator, and at 
times when trouble seemed at hand he persuaded his people 
to remain at peace with the whites. In Iowa his village was 
on the banks of the Upper Iowa River, near the site of the 
present town of Decorah. It was on this spot he died, when 
very old, and his grave is in the public square of Decorah. 

His son, termed "One-eyed Decorah," had only the left 
eye. He was one of the Winnebagoes who delivered Black 
Hawk to the authorities, after the great Sac's conflict with 
the United States. 

"One-eyed Decorah" was a drunkard, and unworthy of 
his father. 

Among the Pottawattamies when they lived in Iowa the 
most prominent man was Sau-ga-nash (Englishman), a half 



64 THE MAKING OF IOWA. 

breed whose father was an Enghsh colonel named Cald- 
well and mother a Pottawattamie. He was near Tecumseh 
when the chief was killed, and was a captain in the British 
army. He also was a justice of the peace of Chicago in 
1826. Besides, he was chief of the Pottawattamies. He 
was commonly called Billy Caldwell. He died in what i^ 
now Pottawattamie County, Iowa, September 28, 1841. He 
was about sixty years old. 

Pash-e-pa-ho was a head chief of the Sacs. He signed 
the treaty of 1804, which so angered Black Hawk and other 
Sacs. His name signifies "stabber." He was so titleH 
because he was ready with the knife and spear, and took 
revenge by those methods. He was exceedingly vindic- 
tive in disposition, and not a pleasant man to have around. 
But he was a skillful warrior, and under his leadership the 
Sacs and Foxes won a great victory over the lowas. He 
was intemperate, and died in Kansas, after his tribe had re- 
moved there from Iowa. 

Wapello was a head chief of the Foxes. The name means 
"chief," but a treaty he signed as ''Waupella" gives the 
definition "he-who-is-painted-white." In Iowa his village 
was at first on Muscatine Slough, and later near the present 
town of Wapello, in Louisa County, where he lived until 
the summer of 1836. 

He was in favor of peace with the whites, and while not 
so fine in appearance as Keokuk, he was almost as great an 
orator in his manner of speech. He was quite short and 
stout. His son was killed by the Sioux. When Wapello 
heard the news he was on the Skunk River opposite the 
mouth of Crooked Creek, in the northeastern part of JefYer- 
son County. He swam the river, traded his horse for a bar- 




APPANOOSE). (Sac Chief.) 



65 



66 THE MAKING OF IOWA. 

rel of whisky, and invited all his people to aid him in drown- 
ing his sorrow. 

He was not a bad Indian, however, and was much be- 
loved. His favorite hmiting grounds were along the Skunk 
River. After he had removed his village to the Des Moines 
River, near Ottumwa, he left it, to visit the Skunk again. 
But he died in camp on Rock Creek, in Jackson Township, 
Keokuk County, in March, 1842. 

He had requested that he be buried beside Gen. Joseph 
M. Street, an Indian agent whom he had liked, and so his 
remains now rest in Wapello County, not far from Agency 
City. Keokuk and other chiefs attended the funeral. Wa- 
pello County and city remind us of him. 

Ap-pa-noose means "a chief when a child," and the owner 
of the name presided over a band of the Sacs. He was a 
quiet man, and friendly with the whites. He had a village 
near the present city of Ottumwa, and the limits of the 
municipality now include what formerly were the Indian 
corn fields. Ap-pa-noose went to Washington, and while 
stopping in Boston, in the course of a speech, replying to 
the governor, he said : 

'*As far as I can understand the language of the white 
people it appears to me that the Americans have attained 
a very high rank among white people. It is the same with 
us, thougli I say it myself. Where we live, beyond the Mis- 
sissippi, I am respected by all people, and they consider me 
the tallest among them. I am happy that two great men 
meet and shake hands with each other." 

Then he reached out and shook the hand of the governor. 

Appanoose County bears his name. 

One of the head chiefs of the Foxes or Musquakies was 



OTHER INDIAN CHIEFS. 67 

Poweshiek (Roused Bear). He was superior in rank to 
either Wapello or Appanoose. He was quite a large man, 
weighing over two hundred and fifty pounds. He was of 
good character, truthful and just, and ruled his Indians with 
an iron hand. For many years his villages were on the 
Iowa River, in what are now Pleasant Valley and Iowa City 
Townships, Johnson County. He was one of the last to 
leave the Iowa River for the Des Moines, after the Sacs 
and Foxes had been ordered there. It is believed he died 
in Kansas. 

He is called to mind by the County of Poweshiek. 

Tai-mah, or Tai-o-mah (Man-whose-voice-makes-the- 
rocks-tremble) was a minor chief of the Foxes. He was at 
the head of a secret society among the Sacs and Foxes, and 
was the medicine man of the fraternity. He lived in a vil- 
lage above the mouth of Flint Creek, near Burlington. The 
village was there in 1820, and afterwards for some years. 

Hard-Fish, or Wish-e-co-ma-que, succeeded Black Hawk 
as leader of the band of turbulent Sacs and Foxes, and ex- 
ercised considerable judgment in controlling the braves. 
On the Des Moines River his village was in Wapello Coun- 
ty, where Eddyville now is. From 1843 to 1845 1^^ lived 
at the mouth of the Raccoon River. 

Formerly there was a county named Kish-ke-kosh. Now 
it is Monroe. It was called Kish-ke-kosh in honor of a 
noted Fox brave and chief. The word means ''man-with- 
one-leg," but Kish-ke-kosh had two legs, and very good 
ones. Once, in a fight with Sioux, he, with a single com- 
panion, charged into the midst of the enemy, killed several 
warriors and bore back as a trophy a Sioux headdress of 
a buffalo head. This feat made him much respected. In 



68 THE MAKING OF IOWA. 

a council at Washington he donned this headdress, and 
stood before a party of Sioux delegates. The act caused 
the Sioux to scowl and whisper together. 

Kish-ke-kosh was an athlete, and possessed a fine figure. 
He was swift of foot, and a famous dancer. He had a village 
in the eastern part of Mahaska County, and later, in 1843, 
1844 and 1845 ^^^ ^^^^ ^^is band lived on the bank of the 
Skunk River in Jasper County, on the Des Moines in Ma- 
rion County, and near the present city of Des Moines. 

Quash-qua-me, or Jumping Fish, was a Sac chief who 
used to hunt in Southeastern Iowa before the Sacs and 
Foxes were removed from their territory east of the Mis- 
sissippi. He was not a great chief, nor a very good Indian, 
but he was friendly with the whites. 

Chief in the Fox village that was located where Dubuque 
city now stands was Pe-ah-mus-ka, a peaceable and well- 
disposed Indian. He did not pick quarrels, and wished to 
live without fighting, but he and many braves were killed 
treacherously by Sioux and Menomonies in 1828, east of 
the Mississippi just below the mouth of the Wisconsin 
River. In return, a few days after, the Foxes killed twenty- 
five Menomonies. 

Wa-pa-sha-shiek was village chief under control of Powe- 
shiek, and had a village on the Iowa River near that of his 
superior. He was respected by the whites because of his 
honesty and sobriety. 

One of the latest chiefs of the Sacs in Iowa was Pa-sish-a- 
mo-ne, who came into notice just before the tribes moved 
into Kansas. He spent a summer on Skunk River, in Jas- 
per County, and then had an encampment on Four Mile 
Creek, east of Fort Des Moines, now Des Moines City. 



OTHER INDIAN CHIEFS. 69 

Of the Sioux Wa-na-ta was a chief whose territory was 
what is now Northern Iowa. He was recognized as the 
grand chief of the Sioux nation. He was born in the last 
quarter of the eighteenth century. He was over six feet 
high, and was very fond of bright colored garments. Mon- 
ka-ush-ka (Trembling Earth) was another Sioux of renown. 
He and Wa-na-ta led in many encounters with the lowas 
and Chippewas. Hu-yom-e-ka (War Eagle), also must be 
remembered. He died in 1851, and with two daughters lies 
buried on a lofty blufif near the mouth of the Bix Sioux 
River. War Eagle was a pilot on the Mississippi River in 
1830. He was a fine man physically, but drank to excess. 

The worst Sioux chief was Si-dom-i-na-do-tah, of the 
Sisseton tribe or clan. He was leader in a roving band that 
created much disturbance in Northern Iowa after the set- 
tlers began to enter that territory. His name means "two 
fingers." At first his followers were four or five despera- 
does who had been exiled from their own people because 
they were so wicked and mean. Then others joined them, 
until the party contained five hundred. Si-dom-i-na-do-tah 
and his Indians frequented the country in Webster County, 
and Woodbury and Cherokee Counties along the Little 
Sioux. Ink-pa-du-tah was second in command. He was 
Si-dom-i-na-do-tah's brother, and was responsible for the 
only Indian massacre Iowa ever had. Ti-kon-ka (Big Buf- 
falo) was another chief. Ink-pa-du-tah had a village where 
Algona, Kossuth County, now is, a^d the settlers forced 
him and his men to leave. 

Si-dom-in-na-do-tah was murdered in January, 1854, by 
two dissolute whites, Henry Lott and his step-son. Near 
the mouth of a creek know as Bloody Run, on the west side 



70 THE MAKING OF IOWA. 

of the east branch of the Des Moines River, in Humboldt 
County, the old chief had his cabin. Lott and step-son 
told him there were some elk in the timber, and induced 
him to mount his pony and go after them. Having decoyed 
him into the woods, the two men shot him. Then they dis- 
guised themselves as Indians and returning to the cabin 
murdered the chief's mother, his wife and four children. 

The settlers would have made short work of Lott and 
step-son, even though Si-dom-i-na-do-tah had been a bad 
Indian, but the murderers fled from the State. 



CHAPTER IX. 

INDIAN BATTLE GROUNDS. 

Like all other Indians, the Red Men in what is now Iowa 
were constantly engaged in battles. Rarely did whites wit- 
ness these conflicts between tribes. In fact, while doubtless 
every section of Iowa has been the scene of an encounter, 
great or small, only a few accounts are on record. 

One of the most important battles was that between the 
Sacs and Foxes, and the lowas, in which the lowas were 
completely put to rout. The lowas, in fact, were surprised, 
and made only slight resistance. 

This fight occurred early in May, 1823 — May i is the 
generally accepted date. The lowas had their principal vil- 
lage on the Des Moines River, about where to-day the town 
of lowaville is. The Sacs and Foxes, and the lowas, had 
been good friends, and had agreed that if an Indian of one 
tribe was killed by another tribe, the murderer or murderers 
were to be delivered to the offended people. 

So in 1819, or thereabouts, when, during a hunting trip, a 
Sac killed a young Iowa, the Sacs prepared to hand over 
their tribesman, according to the compact. Black Hawk, 
then a stripling, was with the party that stopped at the Sac's 
lodge to get him. The Sac was ill, and his brother nobly 
volunteered to go instead. 

After a journey of seven days the party came in sight of 
the Iowa village, and the Sac, brother to the murderer, was 
sent on ahead, alone. He went forward, singing his death 
song. The lowas closed about him, threateningly, and his 
companions thought him lost. 

71 



f 2 THE MAKING OF IOWA. 

But soon he surprised them by approaching- on horse- 
back, leading a second pony. He reported that the lowas 
were so struck with his action, in taking his brother's place, 
that they dismissed him with presents. 

Bad feeling, however, increased between the tribes, and 
the Sacs and Foxes determined to attack the Iowa village. 
This battle was fought in the daytime, although night is the 
Indian's favorite season. 

On the bank of the river at the lower end of a prairie of 
bottom land four miles long, two miles wide at the middle, 
and tapering at either end, was the village. Pash-e-pa-ho, 
head Sac chief, led the attacking forces. The Indians 
crawled through woods above the village to some tall 
swamp grass at the rear of a mound about the middle of the 
prairie. From here they watched the lowas. They intended 
to lie in hiding all day and make a sally at night. 

But this mound was the race course for the lowas, and 
unluckily this was the day when they were to engage in their 
favorite sport. The braves left their arms in the village and 
started for the mound. Then Pash-e-pa-ho sent Black 
Hawk in a circle behind the trees to attack the village. The 
Sacs and the Foxes rushed out from ambush on the de- 
fenseless men at the race course, and at the same time Black 
Hawk's party poured into the village. Slaughter was on 
all sides. The poor lowas had no place where they could 
make a stand. Tomahawk and knife were at work every- 
where. But they fought gallantly, the Sacs and Foxes ad- 
mit, and only a few were left when they yielded. 

The lowas became subject to their conquerors. This 
position was very distasteful to a people so proud and inde- 
pendent. They asked the government to separate them 



INDIAN BATTLE GROUNDS. 73 

from the Sacs and Foxes, and in other ways they showed 
their unhappiness. Finally, in 1825, they sold their prop- 
erty in order to leave the country. 

Unnumbered battles between the Sioux and their neigh- 
bors on the south — the Sacs and Foxes and the Pottawat- 
tamies — have occurred on the headwaters of the Des 
Moines, Iowa, Skunk and Cedar Rivers, and along the Up- 
per Iowa River. Many of these happened after Iowa was a 
Territory ; some after Iowa was a State. 

The shores of Mud Lake, southeast of Webster City, 
were the scene of an engagem.ent in which a Musquakie 
chief, Big Bear, was killed. Again, in 1841, a bloody en- 
counter took place on the Raccoon River, in Dallas County, 
not far from where Adel is now located. 

Sixteen hundred Sacs and Foxes were in camp above the 
mouth of the Raccoon, within the limits of the present city 
of Des Moines, when a Delaware warrior, exhausted and 
faint, rushed into the midst of a war-dance in progress and 
shouted that the Sioux had murdered all his companions. 
The Delawares had been on their way from across the Mis- 
souri to visit their friends, the Sacs and Foxes. 

The Sioux had surprised them at Adel, but not until 
twenty-six Dakotas were slain did the battle cease. Only 
one Delaware out of the twenty-four escaped. 

The Sacs and Foxes immediately prepared to avenge the 
massacre. Pash-e-pa-ho was eighty years old, yet he mount- 
ed his horse to lead six hundred warriors. Keokuk and 
Kish-ke-kosh were with him. The Indians, armed with 
bows and war clubs, tomahawks and knives, guns and 
spears, pursued the Sioux, who were retreating toward the 
Missouri. About a hundred miles from the scene of the 
first battle the enemy was overtaken. 



74 THE MAKING OF IOWA. 

A desperate struggle ensued. The Sacs and Foxes 
claimed they slew three hundred Sioux, and lost only seven 
of their own number. Where the Sioux had attacked the 
Delawares the body of brave Nes-wa-ge, the Delaware chief, 
was found, lying at the foot of a tree. The trunk of the 
tree was gashed with tomahawk blows, and around it were 
four dead Sioux whom he had killed. Nes-wa-ge was a 
great warrior. 

In 1836 the few traders at what is now Council BlufYs and 
vicinity saw a large band of Sioux pass down the river, on 
their way to the Lower Iowa River, where they attacked five 
lodges of Fox Indians, about fifty miles from the Mississippi. 
They killed all the Foxes but one. 

So bold were the Sioux, that in 1837 the Fox chief Wa- 
cosh-au-shee went to St. Louis to see if he could not get 
protection for his people. When he returned he found them 
starving. So he divided them into two bands. One band 
went on a hunt northward between the Cedar and Iowa 
Rivers, and the other band, with himself as leader, followed 
the east bank of the Cedar, up stream. This band num- 
bered one hundred and seventy persons. Game was scarce. 
Fish were all that furnished food. . 

Wa-cosh-au-shee sent some young braves across the 
Wapsipincon River to look about, and they reported that the 
Winnebagoes were hunting there, which was in the vicinity 
of Anamosa, Jones County. 

Then Wa-cosh-au-shee learned that a party of Sioux were 
not far away. He knew he could not retreat, with the 
women and the old men, so he placed all those who couldn't 
fight in a camp, and with his braves went ahead to surprise 
the enemy. 



INDIAN BATTLE GROUNDS. 75 

The Foxes crossed Otter Creek, in Buchanan County, 
and shortly after midnight of August 3 they made a rush 
upon what they supposed was a Sioux encampment. But 
the wigwams proved to be only sandhills. 

The Sioux were in a ravine close by, and suddenly attack- 
ing the Foxes, drove them back with great loss. The Foxes 
did their best, and fought hard, but eleven were killed and 
sixteen wounded. This was near the mouth of the Otter. 

It April, 1852, occurred the last conflict with the Sioux. 
The scene was the west bank of the east branch of the Des 
Moines River, some six miles north of Algona, Kossuth 
County. A band of Musquakies had gone from Tama 
County to Clear Lake. The chief was Ko-ko-wah. These 
Indians heard that a party of Sioux was encamped on the 
Des Moines. The temptation was too great, and it was 
determined to attack the old-time foe. So the Musquakies 
donned their war paint, and after surveying the ground they 
descended on the unsuspecting Sioux. 

A number of Sioux braves had left the camp, on a hunt, 
but the remaining persons in the camp were cut to pieces. 

The Musquakies lost four warriors, two among them 
being noted braves named Kear-kurk and Pa-tak-py. Pa- 
tak-py was slain by a Sioux squaw, who shot him in the 
breast, and then when he was running away shot him again, 
this time through the body, with an arrow. Then a Fox 
killed her, in turn. 

At Twin Lakes, and on the South Lizard in Webster 
County, the Pottawattamies and the Sioux met in battles, 
and the Sioux had a little the best of it. 

Along in 1830, when some whites crossed the river into 
Iowa, about where Dubuque now stands, a few miles below 



76 THE MAKING OF IOWA. 

the present city, they saw at the foot of a high blufif a quan- 
tity of bones, and shreds of blankets, evidence that once 
bodies had lain there. This spot was called Sioux Bluff. 
The Sacs and Foxes said that here was the scene of a battle 
in which the Sioux were defeated and forced over the cliff. 

The bluff is two hundred feet high, perpendicular on the 
river side, and standing alone. The Sioux had retreated 
to the crest, and had fortified themselves by building a bar- 
rier of trees and brush. At night the Sacs and Foxes crept 
up the steep ascent, and early in the morning attacked the 
outposts. The brush was set on fire, and the Sioux, ex- 
posed to the light, were shot down. The enemy burst over 
the bulwarks, and the defenders who survived jumped or 
were hurled over the precipice. 

Sacs and Foxes thereafter looked on the locality with awe. 
They claimed that at full moon the cliff was haunted by the 
spirit of a young Indian maiden, who bewailed her lost 
lover. 

Just out of Iowa, on her borders, the Indians contended in 
battle, interesting to Iowa because people from her confines 
were engaged. Long, long ago the Sacs and Foxes, and 
Mas-coutins fought all day, opposite the mouth of the Iowa 
River. The Sacs and Foxes in canoes had gone down the 
Mississippi, from their village, and were attacked in the 
channel by Mas-coutins, and defeated. The Mas-coutins 
pursued them up stream, and but few of the vanquished 
party escaped to bear the news to their friends at home. 

It will be remembered that Pe-ah-mus-ka was chief of the 
Foxes when they had a village on the site of Dubuque, and 
it has been stated he was killed treacherously by the Sioux. 
The Sioux, Winnebagoes and Menomonies were in alliance 



INDIAN BATTLE GROUNDS. 77 

for a time against the Sacs and Foxes, and in 1828 they 
asked the Indian agent at Prairie du Chien to invite the 
Foxes to a council, where the hatchet would be buried for- 
ever. 

So the message was sent, and a delegation of Fox braves 
left their village at Dubuque to attend the meeting. The 
second night after their departure they encamped a little 
below the mouth of the Wisconsin River, on the eastern 
shore of the Mississippi. While they were lounging around, 
at supper time, a war party of Sioux and Menomonies, sent 
for the purpose, surprised them and only two Fox Indians 
escaped. Pe-ah-mus-ka and the other warriors were slain 
mercilessly. 

The two Indians carried the tidings to the village, and at 
once, under the lead of a half-breed, Morgan, otherwise Ma- 
que-pra-um, all the Foxes who could be mustered set out 
to get revenge. They went up the Mississippi in canoes, 
and lay in ambush on the Iowa bluffs opposite Prairie du 
Chien. At night they threw off everything but tomahawk 
and knife and swam the river. Slyly they crept upon the 
encampment of Menomonies, right under the cannon of Fort 
Crawford, and killed seventeen warriors, besides women and 
children and old men. 

Then the Foxes abandoned their Dubuque town forever. 

An Indian duel occurred on an island in the Mississippi, 
below Davenport, in the spring of 1837. A Sac and a Win- 
nebago had quarreled, and met to fight it out. The Winne- 
bago had a shot gun, and the Sac a rifle. Of course the rifle 
proved the more useful, and the Winnebago was slain. 

The Sac afterward felt very badly, for he knew that he 
must give himself up to the Winnebagoes, in accordance 



78 THE MAKING OF IOWA. 

with Indian regulations of honor. His sister told him that 
he must go to the Winnebago camp, on Rock Island, and 
be killed. He entered his canoe. His sister herself pad- 
dled it. On the way the Sac sang his death song. At the 
lower end of the island the Indians from all around formed 
a circle, in the center of which was an open grave. 

The Sac was led to the edge of the grave by his sister, 
and when he calmly seated himself here a Winnebago brave, 
the nearest male relative of the dead man, executed him 
by striking him with a tomahawk. Thus good will was re- 
established between the tribes. 

A short distance below the mouth of the Upper Iowa 
River is a cape called Winnebago Cape. Just above is a cape 
which has been known as Cape Garlic. Many years ago the 
Winnebagoes set out to invade the territory of the Sioux. 
They crossed the Mississippi, but while they were landing 
the Sioux attacked them. The Winnebagoes were crowded 
between the two points of land, and were utterly defeated. 

These are only a few of the encounters which occurred 
when Indian fought Indian in and around what is now Iowa. 
When in the woods and fields, and along the banks of 
streams, we pick up arrowheads and spearheads, tokens of 
Indian battle and hunt, let us bear in mind that the Sacs and 
Foxes, the lowas and the Sioux, and all the rest were but 
men and women, as are the white people. They loved their 
homes ; they loved their relatives and friends ; they were 
brave in defense of their rights. We cannot learn too much 
about the Indians, and the more we learn, especially of 
their life before the whites corrupted them with liquor and 
false promises, the more we will respect them. 

Every arrowhead has its history. 



CHAPTER X. 

THE FIRST WHITE MEN IN IOWA. 

On June 17, 1673, two canoes bearing seven Frenchmen 
swept out of the Wisconsin River onto the bosom of a 
mighty stream unknown to voyagers. On the right of these 
men were the broad meadows, fringed by hills where now 
stands the city of Prairie du Chien. Across the water were 
lofty cliffs and rugged elevations, with dense woods covering 
them and extending clear to the shore. 

For the first time, so far as records show, the eye of a 
white person rested on the soil of what is to-day Iowa. The 
pretty town of McGregor was not then hereabouts ; no 
smoke curled up toward the sky ; not a sign of human life 
was visible. Only the eagle circled above the trees, the deer 
browsed in the valley, and the bufTalo was dimly outlined 
on a distant prairie. 

The Frenchmen were Jacques Marquette, a Jesuit priest, 
Louis Joliet, a fur trader, and five companions whose names 
have not been handed down. But all were brave, else they 
would not have started on a journey which even the friendly 
Indians who guided them refused to continue. 

Marquette was a monk of the Order of St. Francis. He 

was a noble missionary, who labored faithfully to teach the 

Indians the religion of Christianity, and finally laid down 

his life for his work. His station in the New World was at 

Point St. Ignace, in the present State of Michigan, on the 

north shore of the Mackinaw Straits, about half way between 

Lakes Huron and Michigan. 

79 



80 THE MAKING OF IOWA. 

Rumors had come to his ears, as to the ears of many 
others in New France, of the existence westward some miles 
of a great river that perhaps flowed into the South Sea, 
or into the Pacific Ocean. When Jacques Cartier has dis- 
covered the St. Lawrence, a chief had said to him : 

''Stih farther toward the setting sun is another great river, 
which flows to the land from which the sweet winds of the 
southwest bring us health and happiness, and where there 
is neither cold nor snow." 

Romance has it that in 1528 a Spaniard, by name Cabeza 
de Vaca, with a company of adventurers, set out to con- 
quer all the lands on the northern shore of the Mexican 
Gulf. He was captured by the Indians, and was worshiped 
as a god. It is claimed that going from tribe to tribe he 
crossed the continent from ocean to ocean. He must have 
seen the river; maybe he was in Iowa ; but his reputed jour- 
ney is not recorded in a manner that indicates clearly his 
course. 

The Mississippi Valley still awaited exploration. The 
Mississippi River still was called the Hidden River and the 
Inland Sea. Then, in 1541, Ferdinand de Soto, having re- 
signed his governorship of Cuba, and having landed an 
army in Florida and marched from the gulf to this stream 
for which he was seeking, died on its banks. 

De Vaca and de Soto were but adventurers. Marquette 
was inspired solely by a wish to spread the gospel. His 
companion, Joliet, was moved by a desire to profit in his 
trading. 

On May 17, 1673, the two leaders and party of 
five left St. Ignace, and paddling through the straits 
of Mackinaw entered Lake Michigan. In Green Bay they 



THE FIRST WHITE MAN IN IOWA. 81 

passed into the Menomonie River, which they ascended. 
They stopped with the Menomonies, or "Wild Rice In- 
dians." It was the Menomonies who assisted the Sioux in 
the massacre of Pe-ah-mus-ka and his band of Foxes, at 
the mouth of the Wisconsin, in 1828, and we have read of 
the revenge the remaining Foxes took. 

The Menomonies tried to dissuade the Frenchmen from 
going to the Mississippi. They said the banks were inhabit- 
ed by ferocious people, who put to death every stranger ; 
there was a demon in the river whose roaring could be heard 
for miles, and who would swallow all who came near ; the 
heat of the climate was so great that no one from the north 
could survive it. 

But Marquette told them he was not afraid, and after he 
had taught the Indians a prayer he and his men set out 
again, southward along the western shore of Lake Michigan. 
Then they entered the Fox River. Wild rice surrounded 
them, birds filled the air and swam on the water, and on the 
prairies bordering the stream grazed deer and elk. 

The explorers crossed Winnebago Lake, and on the sev- 
enth of June reached a great village of Mas-coutins, Miamies 
and Kickapoos. The Mas-coutins, it will be remembered, 
at one time lived on Muscatine Island, Iowa. 

In three days the party again embarked, having been fur- 
nished with two Indian guides to show the way to the Wis- 
consin River, which was said to flow into the big river for 
which the Frenchmen sought. All the village flocked to 
the bank to see the voyagers ofif, and marveled at the won- 
derful bravery of the white men. Now on up the Fox they 
went. 

At last Wisconsin — on maps of early date called Mes- 



82 THE MAKING OF IOWA. 

consin and Ouisconsin — was attained, the canoes being car- 
ried overland across the strip of country separating it from 
the Fox. The guides would go no farther, so unattended 
by any Indian the little party glided out into the current. 
The members of the company did not know what was ahead. 
Nobody save Indians had been down the Wisconsin. Mar- 
quette and Joliet had only been informed that it emptied 
into what they hoped was the Hidden River. Their fol- 
lowers trusted them. 

At night all slept on the shore beneath the canoes turned 
bottom up. Smoked meat and Indian corn supplied food. 
The scenery that surrounded them, afloat and ashore, was 
exquisite. 

Suddenly, after they had been traveling a week since 
leaving the village, they saw before them, through the trees 
lining the course of the stream, a broad expanse of water. 
Quickly, almost without realizing what they had done, they 
were out of the Wisconsin and into a current flowing nearly 
at right angles with it. 

''With a joy," writes Marquette, ''which I cannot ex- 
press" they turned southward, for they had found the Mis- 
sissippi. This was June 17, 1673. 

They paddled down the Mississippi for a week. We can 
imagine what sights they saw. The river then was much 
wider than it is now. Within the memory of living persons 
the volume of water has decreased, so what must it have 
been centuries ago? Possibly the annual June freshet was 
raging, and the melting snows of the north had added to 
the stage. The tales of the Indians fiad excited the fancies 
of the party, and they were watchful for new sights. 

High hills along the banks were interspersed with mead- 



THE FIRST WHITE MAN IN IOWA. 83 

ows and prairies. Buffalo stood and stared at the canoes, 
and one savage, yet stupid, old bull attracted especial at- 
tention from Marquette. When a huge cat fish rose under 
Marquette's craft, nearly capsizing it, he was considerably 
startled, and all were amazed when in the net they caught 
a "spade fish" — a sturgeon, or maybe a spoonbill cat fish — 
an animal of which they never had heard. 

At night they landed, made a fire just long enough to 
cook with, and quickly extinguished it lest it should draw 
attention from enemies. They then paddled away from the 
spot, and anchored in the stream, and slept, with one man 
on watch. Where they landed, we do not know. Without 
doubt some places were on the west bank of the river, in 
Iowa. 

By June 25 they had almost reached the southern bound- 
ary of Iowa, where the Des Moines River empties into the 
Mississippi. Thus far they had not encountered a human 
being. The whole country seemed deserted. Marquette was 
looking out for Indians with whom he could converse, and 
to whom he could teach Christianity. On this day on the 
west bank they found in the mud prints of feet, and saw a 
path leading inland through the grass. Joliet and Mar- 
quette, leaving the other five to guard the canoes, started 
along this path. 

The spot of land was in Lee County. River men say 
that taking Marquette's description of the vicinity and the 
journey, the mouth of Lemoiliese Creek, or Bloody Run, is i 
the only place that answers in all particulars. Old settlers 
assert that an Indian path, similar to the one followed by 
Marquette and Joliet, was here when the earliest settlements 
were made. Montrose also has been selected as a probable 



84 ' THE MAKING OF IOWA. 

point of landing, and Sandusky is a third location spoken 
of. Whatever the exact spot, history marks it as the first 
bit of Iowa soil pressed by the foot af a white man. 

The two Frenchmen walked inland for six miles, through 
forest and over prairies, ever peering ahead to see Indians, 
or a village. They did not know but that they might even 
find an entirely new race of beings. Finally they came to 
a place where they beheld an Indian village on the banks < 
of a river. A mile and a half away were two other towns, on 
a hill. 

Marquette and Joliet were greatly excited, and quite nerv- 
ous, because they could not foretell the kind of reception 
they would get. But they boldly advanced until they could 
hear the Indians talking among the huts. The Frenchmen 
stood forth in plain sight and shouted. Instantly the village 
was in an uproar. The inhabitants poured out of their 
houses. 

Four chiefs came forward to meet the visitors. They held 
in their extended hands calumets, or peace pipes, gay with 
feathers. 

Marquette was rejoiced to see French cloth in the cloth- 
ing of the chiefs, and he was still more rejoiced when he 
ascertained he could talk with them. He spoke the dialects 
of the Algonquins, and the chiefs were of this family. They 
said they were Illini, an Algonquin confederacy. 

Marquette named the village Moingoeuna ; one of the 
other villages he christened Peouaria. From the first word 
comes Moingona, an Iowa town ; Peoria, Illinois, has its 
derivation from the other word, which refers to the Peorias, 
a tribe in the Illini. The river on which this village stood 
was the Des Moines. 



THE FIRST WHITE MAN IN IOWA. 85 

Marquette and Joliet were royally treated. After smok- 
ing the pipe of peace they went with their friendly hosts 
into the village. The chief stood naked at the entrance to 
his wigwam, and pretended to shield his eyes with his 
hands. While so doing he exclaimed : 

''Frenchmen, how bright the sun shines when you come 
to visit us ! All our village awaits ; and you shall enter our 
wigwams in peace." 

The two explorers were very glad to hear such hospitable 
greeting. They were escorted by the chief into the wig- 
wam, and in the midst of a dense crowd of savages, who 
gazed at them in silence, they smoked again, this time with 
the old men and other dignitaries. Then they were taken 
to the great chief of all the Illini, in one of the villages on 
the hill. 

Here they smoked once more, the Indians gathering 
around in throngs. All the people from all three villages 
seemed to be collected in that spot, and were very curious. 
The chief was asked by Marquette for information con- 
cerning the Mississippi, and rephed with a speech full of 
flowery compliment. He said the guests made his tobacco 
taste better, made the river calmer, the sky more serene 
and the earth more beautiful. He presented them with a 
slave and a peace pipe, but he did not tell them what they 
wanted to know. On the contrary he begged them not to 
descend farther. 

A feast of four courses was set before the Frenchmen. A 
master of ceremonies fed the visitors as though they were 
babies, by dipping a large spoon into a porridge of Indian 
meal, boiled with grease, contained in a wooden bowl. From 
a platter of fish he picked pieces, removed the bones, blew 



86 THE MAKING OF IOWA. 

on the morsels to cool them, and thrust them into the 
mouths of the priest and the fur trader. Dog and buffalo 
meat concluded the entertainment. 

After spending the night with the Indians the two French- 
men departed, the chief and six hundred of his men attend- 
ing them to their canoes. 

Marquette never again saw this region. He and his com- 
panions proceeded past the Missouri and the Ohio and 
reached the Arkansas. The peace pipe proved a valuable 
protection. At the Arkansas they were forced to turn back. 
The weather was proving weakening, and they had ascer- 
tained the river discharged, not into the Gulf of Cahfornia, 
but into the Gulf of Mexico. They entered the Illinois, and 
having ascended this river, were guided by Indians to Lake 
Michigan. Joliet went on to Quebec. Marquette remained 
behind at Green Bay, to recover from an iHness. He made 
a trip into the interior of Illinois, and soon after died in the 
woods of Western Michigan. For a long time the Indians 
worshiped his memory. Voyageurs crossing Lake Michi- 
gan, when caught in a storm, called on his name, and it 
was claimed the waters became still. 

Marquette cahed the Mississippi the Conception. De 
Soto referred to it as the Great River, or the river of the 
Holy Ghost. La Salle christened it the Colbert River. 
Later it was styled the River St. Louis. From the lips of the 
Indians of the Algonquin language it has come to be known 
as the Mississippi (missisepe) — the. Big River, a word com- 
pounded of missi, big, and sepe, or sepo, river. For some 
years after the partial settlement of the territory adjoining 
it the stream was termed in books of the day ''Missisipi." 

Thus Iowa was discovered, but over a century elapsed ere 
white men sought a home within her borders. 



CHAPTER XI. 



THE FIRST WHITE SETTLER. 



Although the beginning of the settlement of the present 
State of Iowa dates June i, 1833, when the Black Hawk 
Purchase was thrown open by the government, the settlers 
who came in then were not the first white people to live 
within the borders. For some years before 1833 Indians 
had permitted other whites — mainly Frenchmen — to dwell 
on Iowa soil. Trappers and hunters were they, and repre- 
sentatives of great fur trading companies. Also, military 
posts established throughout the country of the Upper 
Mississippi V^alley, in Iowa as elsewhere, were garrisoned 
by soldiers, who added to the white population. 

Therefore when the Black Hawk Purchase was invaded 
by eager settlers, already Eastern Iowa had a small con- 
tingent, not Indians. 

Julien Dubuque had lived and died in Iowa before the 
country had even been thought of as a home for civilization. 
He crossed into Iowa in 1788, and so far as records show 
he was the first white man to take up a residence here. He 
was alone among the Indians, and for all we know was 
then the only white person north of what is now Missouri 
and between the Mississippi and the Rocky Mountains. 

Dubuque was born in 1762, in the district of Three Rivers, 
about sixty miles above Quebec, Canada. During those 
days the spirit of adventure was in the air. Everybody 



88 THE MAKING OF IOWA. 

traded with the Indians, everybody sought new country and 
new fields to conquer, and everybody encountered hardships 
in forest and on stream. Right at the doors of the men of 
the eighteenth century lay unknown regions. A continent 
containing all kinds of wonders was each boy's front yard. 
Dubuque, when only 23, started out to see what he could 
find in this vast playground. 

He went to Prairie du Chien, above the mouth of the Wis- 
consin River. Prairie du Chien originally meant "dog 
prairie." This point occupies a prominent place in the his- 
tory of the settlement of the Upper Mississippi Valley. For 
a long time it was a trading station of the British, and in the 
War of 18 1 2 the Americans tried in vain to hold a fort built 
here by the government. At this trading post young Du- 
buque stopped, in 1785, and began to traffic with the In- 
dians across the Mississippi, where McGregor, Iowa, now is. 

A squaw, one of the wives of Peosta, a Fox warrior, had 
found lead in the ground near here, and Dubuque heard 
about it from the Indians he met. The Foxes dug out lead 
ore, and used the metal in trading and for bullets, etc. 
Dubuque believed that he ought to have a hand in this, and 
in 1788 he succeeded in obtaining from the Indians the 
sole right to work the lead mines. 

This was a fine thing. He immediately moved over the 
river, and settled in the camp of the Kettle Chief, or Chief 
Kettle, a prominent Fox. This village was at the mouth 
of Catfish Creek, two miles below the present city of Du- 
buque. 

The Frenchman took with him ten companions, French- 
Canadians, to help him. The treaty by which the Foxes 
gave him the mining property was signed at Prairie du 



THE FIRST WHITE SETTLERS- 89 

Chien September 22, 1788, and it is probable that the new 
owner lost no time in crossing and taking possession. 

Dubuque built himself a cabin, planted corn, and in other 
ways made himself comfortable in the village. He erected 
a mill to be run by horse power, and constructed a furnace 
in which to smelt the lead he mined, and prepare it for mar- 
ket. 

Twice a year he loaded his goods onto several boats, and 
went down the Mississippi to St. Louis. He usually was 
accompanied by Fox chiefs and braves, as well as by French 




AUTOGRAPH OF JULIEN DUBUQU]^- 

employes. His arrival in St. Louis always created quite a 
stir, for he was looked upon as a great and wealthy trader 
from a wild country. He was regarded with much curios- 
ity and admiration, and balls were given in his honor. 

Having sold and traded his goods, he loaded what he 
had received onto his boats, and the fleet proceeded up the 
river to the mines. We can picture to ourselves the appear- 
ance of this flotilla, going and coming. The chiefs and 
braves we may be sure put on their gayest paint and feath- 
ers, and their proudest mein. They had not lived so close 
to civilization that they had been made dissipated by liquor 



90 THE MAKING OF IOWA. 

and gambling, and so they were fine specimens of the Red 
Man. 

Dubuque himself was a small man, but stout and wiry, 
with black hair and eyes. He was very courteous and po- 
lite, and his manners were extremely gallant, especially when 
in St. Louis he met some ladies. Living among the Indians 
as they did, he and his French companions dressed in Fuck 
skins — leggins and shirt and moccasins — and wore round 
caps of fur, maybe with a feather sticking jauntily up from 
one side. Long, flintlock rifles, and belt with knife and 
hatchet, and powder horn slung across the shoulder, com- 
pleted the costume. 

The boats would be loaded high with lead and furs, and 
doubtless when they swept swiftly down the lonely river 
toward St. Louis the Frenchmen sang a merry song, after 
the fashion of the race. Leaving St. Louis the furs and 
lead would be replaced by powder and salt and many 
other things that could not be procured so easily at Prairie 
du Chien, not forgetting beads and trinkets used in trading 
with the Indians. 

When the Dubuque fleet arrived at St. Louis, and when it 
left, salutes were fired from rifles by the Indians, to add im- 
pressiveness to the occasion. 

Dubuque lived in the village nearly twenty-two years. 
He mined and traded steadily, and beyond that we know 
nothing of his adventures. His white employes were over- 
seers, smelters, etc., and the mining was done by the In- 
dians themselves. Dubuque kept a rude general store, 
where he exchanged cloth and beads and whatever else he 
thought best, for furs and lead. Only the old men and the 
women did the mining, the braves considering it undignified 



THE FIRST WHITE SETTLERS- 91 

to work. Mining was carried on in a very simple fasiiion. 
The Indians dug into the hills as far as they could, and bore 
away the ore in baskets. 

Dubuque claimed that the Indians sold him the land 
where he mined, and that he paid for it in goods. But the 
J Foxes maintained that they only gave him a permit to mine. 
In 1796, after he had been west of the Mississippi for eight 
years, he asked the Spanish government, which then owned 
Louisiana Territory, to transfer to him the title to all this 
tract and to some additional country not mentioned in his 
treaty with the Indians. Baron de Carondelet, governor of 
Louisiana, at Orleans, granted the request. Dubuque called 
his mines "The Mines of Spain." 

When Dubuque died the Indians would not let anybody 
else work the mines, because, they said, no white man had a 
right there, and Dubuque had been there only by special 
permission. The treaty, which is still in existence, seems to 
support this claim by, the Foxes. 

Dubuque was not a good business man, evidently, for 
he became so indebted to Auguste Chouteau, an important 
store keeper at St. Louis, that in 1804 he conveyed to the 
merchant a great extent of land, in order to cancel some 
of the obligations. 

When he died the remainder of the land was to become 
the property of Chouteau or his heirs. 

So in time Chouteau's heirs demanded from the govern- 
ment the possession of much ground where Dubuque city 
now is. The case was not decided until 1853. By this time 
settlers were occupying the territory, and Iowa was a State. 
The supreme court determined the Indians had not sold 
Dubuque the land, and that it. was not his to dispose of, and 
that the settlers could stay. This created much rejoicing. 



92 THE MAKING OF IOWA. 

Dubuque died a bankrupt, poor in spite of the fact that 
he seems to have had unusual opportunities to become rich. 
His mines were a fine success, he was in the midst of the 
Indians of a fur country, and the savages trusted him. They 
looked upon him as a great medicine man. His influence 
over the Foxes and over the Winnebagoes, across the river, 
was extraordinary. 

He was reputed to be a magician. Once he frightened 
the Foxes by telling them he would set the creek on fire. 
He instructed some of his men to pour oil on the water 
above the village, and when the inflammable coating floated 
down to a point opposite the cabins he touched a match to 
it. The water appeared to blaze up, which so frightened the 
Indians that they ever after regarded Dubuque with awe. 

Dubuque was named by the Indians "Little Cloud." Evi- 
dently he had quite an establishment at the village, for when 
Lieutenant Pike ascended the Mississippi in 1805 Dubuque 
welcomed him by a salute from a cannon. 

In March, 18 10, Dubuque died, in the village of the 
Foxes. The Indians mourned him deeply, and treated his 
body with highest honors in their power. Chiefs and war- 
riors from all the tribes to which he was known gathered 
and escorted his remains to the grave. Women followed, 
singing funeral songs. At the grave the chiefs spoke, de- 
tailing his virtues and praising them. Then sorrowfully the 
Indians left him in his rude resting place. 

His burial occurred on the crest of a blufT projecting 200 
feet above the Mississippi, and situated a short distance 
north of Kettle Chief's village. The Indians erected over 
the grave an enclosure, with stone sides and a wooden roof. 
At one end was a cedar cross ten feet high, said to have been 



THE FIRST WHITE SETTLERS- 93 

made by Dubuque. The arms were inscribed thus, in 
French : 

"Juhen Dubuque, miner of the mines of Spain ; died 
March 24, 1810, aged 43^ years." 

It is beheved the age is an error, and that he was forty- 
eight. Beside him was buried a principal chief, who asked 
this favor. For many years the Indians thought Dubuque 
would return and dwell with them again. As long as pos- 
sible the Sacs and Foxes visited the grave every year, and 
other tribes whenever they could, and each Indian threw 
onto the spot a stone. Finally there was quite a heap of 
small stones here. 



CHAPTER XII. 



MORE EARLY SETTLERS. 



Soon after Julien Dubuque built his cabin near where to- 
day stands the city of Dubuque, and started in on his twen- 
ty-one years of residence in the village of the Fox Kettle 
Chief, two other Frenchmen obtained grants of land from 
the government of Louisiana Territory, and became settlers 
within the present State of Iowa. 

They were Basil Gaillard and Louis Honori. In 1795, 
seven years after Dubuque crossed the river from Prairie du 
Chien, the lieutenant governor of Upper Louisiana trans- 
ferred to Basil Gaillard a tract of 5,760 acres in what is to- 
day Clayton County. Gaillard had been a close companion 
of Dubuque at Prairie du Chien, and the two men remained 
friends in Iowa. They were neighbors, for their estates were 
a comparatively short distance apart. Gaillard was not far 
north of Dubuque, and it is presumed the traders exchanged 
visits. 

Gaillard's name is also referred to as Giard and Gayard. 
Recent investigations tend to establish Gaillard as the cor- 
rect spelling. So we shall refer to him as Gaillard, although 
Giard Township in Clayton County, preserves one of the 
other styles. Gaillard occupied his land for some years, 
living in the wild scenes of a practically unknown country, 
trading with the Indians, and frequently going to Prairie 
du Chien, just across the river, and several times a year to 
St. Louis. He and Dubuque were barons and lords over a 

wonderful domain. Could we but find a record of their 

94 



MORE EARLY SETTLERS- 95 

doings during their career among their savage retainers, 
the incidents would make romantic reading. 

Louisiana passed from Spain to France, and from France 
to the United States. In July, 1844, the government issued 
papers declaring that the ''Giard" family owned the original 
tract. The heirs were foolish enough to sell this immense 
property for only $300. The town of McGregor is now on 
the old Giard, or Gaillard, land. 

Third of the early settlers in Iowa when it was a part of 
Louisiana Territory, before the United States acquired the 
region, was Louis Honori, also styled Louis Honori Fres- 
son, and Louis Honori Tesson, or Fresson Honori and Tes- 
son Honori. Louis Honori is the name generally accepted. 
He lived in what is now Lee County. In March, 1799, 
Zenon Trudeau, acting lieutenant governor of Upper Louis- 
iana, granted to Honori a tract a league square, embracing 
the present site of Montrose. In 1839 the United States 
issued a title to a portion of this land, and this is the oldest 
title to any soil in Iowa. It is a strange coincidence that 
the oldest title should include the spot claimed by some au- 
thorities to be the one first touched by a white man. 

The grant made by the Spanish ofBcial in 1799 read: 'Tt 
is permitted to Mr. Louis (Fresson) Honori, or Louis Hon- 
ori Fresson, to establish himself at the head of the rapids of 
the River Des Moines, and his establishment once formed, 
notice of it shall be given to the governor general, in order 
to obtain for him a commission of a space sufHcient to give 
value to such establishment, and at the same time to render 
it useful to the commerce of the peltries of this country, to 
watch the Indians and keep them in the fidelity which they 
owe to His Majesty." 



96 THE MAKING OF IOWA. 

Honori remained in possession of his tract until 1805. 
He traded with the Indians, and probably lived the same 
kind of a life as did his nearest white neighbors in Iowa, 
Dubuque and Gaillard. He was closer to St. Louis than 
they, and could get his goods to market quicker. We can 
imagine that when Dubuque and Gaillard passed down the 
river they stopped ofi to chat with Honori, and to tell tales 
and discuss what little news came to them. 

Honori improved his land considerably. "Building 
houses, planting orchards, and a small piece was under cul- 
tivation," was the statement made at the time he sold it to a 
creditor. When the Black Hawk Purchase was made the 
settlers who located at Montrose found an apple orchard, 
the trees full grown. This incident excited astonishment, 
for the Indians did not grow apple trees. 

Honori claimed before he died that he had set out the 
apple trees. But Red Bird, an old half-Indian of the Sacs, 
asserted that he himself planted the orchard. He said that 
in 1790 he had his wigwam on the spot, and once when he 
paid a visit to St. Louis a good white man of St. Charles 
gave him a little bundle of young apple trees, and told him 
how to plant them. He stuck them in the ground around 
his wigwam, attended to them, and in due time they bore 
fruit. 

Black Hawk and other Indians supported Red Bird in 
his story. So we must choose between the Frenchman and 
the half-Indian. At any rate, in 1833, the orchard was a 
fine one, and the settlers who found it were glad enough to 
eat the apples. After a time the trees were too old to pro- 
duce fruit, but the remains of the orchard may still be seen. 

In 1803 Honori was forced to sell his property to Joseph 



MORE EARLY SETTLERS- 97 

Robedoux, to whom he owed much money. Honori con- 
tinued to occupy the place, however, until 1805, when Robe- 
doux having died his agent sold it to Thomas F. Reddeck. 
In 1839 the United States issued to the Reddeck heirs docu- 
ments stating they were the sole owners of a mile square of 
the original tract. 

In this section of the present state lived also a French 
trader named Lemoiliese. In 1820 he located where San- 
dusky now is. A mile above him was Maurice Blondeau, 
also of French blood. Blondeau was a fat, jolly man, and 
was a trader, like all the rest of the early French in Iowa. 

In 1821 Isaac R. Campbell visited Lee County, and in the 
fall of 1825 he settled at Commerce where Nauvoo, Illinois, 
now is, across from Montrose, then an Indian village. His 
father-in-law, Capt. James White, had preceded him to this 
spot. 

Mr. Campbell, on his visit in 182 1, saw at Puck-e-she- 
tuck (Foot of the Rapids), where Keokuk stands, a cabin 
built in 1820 by Dr. Samuel Muir. We shall read more 
about Dr. Muir. 

While speaking of these early times in Iowa, and the men 
who acted as advance agents of civilization, Antoine Le 
Claire must be considered. Le Claire really was one of the 
most important white men of the Upper Mississippi Valley. 
He was a famous interpreter for the Indians and the gov- 
ernment, and did much to bring negotiations between the 
two races to successful ends. Like many of the trappers, 
traders and scouts he was part Indian, his father being a 
French trader and his mother grand-daughter of a Potta- 
wattamie chief. 

Antoine was born where St. Joseph, Michigan, now is, 



98 THE MAKING OF IOWA. 

in 1797. He was sent to school in St. Louis, the governor of 
Missouri having taken quite an interest in him. In 1818 he 
became interpreter at Fort Armstrong, on Rock Island. 
Being part Indian, and thrown with the Indians constantly, 
he was skillful in using their language. 

From 1818 until all the Indians save the Musquakies dis- 
appeared from Iowa we find Le Claire employed in nearly 
every important treaty where an interpreter was needed. 
He spoke fourteen Indian dialects, besides French and Eng- 
lish. His wife was grand-daughter of a Sac chief. Kettle. 
Her father was a Frenchman, so she was not wholly Indian. 

Le Claire lived at Davenport and at Fort Armstrong. 
The old Le Claire homestead was erected in 1813 on the 
site of Davenport. In 1854 it was turned over to the Mis- 
souri & Mississippi Railroad Company, now the Chicago, 
Rock Island & Pacific, and was used as a passenger depot. 

It will be remembered that when the government and the 
Sacs and Foxes formulated a treaty, in 1832, at a council 
held under a tent on the Iowa shore opposite Rock Island, 
the Indians gave to Le Claire and Mrs. Le Claire ground for 
homes. Le Claire's land was at the head of the Rapids, 
while Mrs. Le Claire's was at Davenport. In making the 
gift the Sac chief struck the ground in the center of the tent 
with his heel, saying : 

**We want Le Claire to build a house on this very spot." 

In the spring of 1833 Le Claire did as requested, and 
where the Fox village, called Morgan, with Poweshiekvas 
chief, was, he erected a small shanty. '^ 

Le Claire died in 1861, aged nearly sixty-four. He was 
one of the founders of Davenport, and a successful business 
man. Black Hawk and he were great friends. The great 



kORE EARLY SETTLERS, 9^ 

Warrior put his biography in Le Claire's hands, for transla- 
tion. 

Another celebrated white man in these days was Colonel 
George Davenport, by birth an Englishman, who after many 
adventures on the sea and in the army, became a trader and 
army contractor. In 1816 he established himself on Rock 
Island. He built a house here and became intimate with the 
Sacs and Foxes and Winnebagoes. He owned a boat for 
use between the island and St. Louis, and in the winters 
made excursions into Iowa, penetrating the interior to trade 
with the tribes. He was a leading employe of the American 
Fur Company. He also traded on his own account, and 
had posts at Burlington, and on the Iowa, Wapsipinicon and 
Maquoketa Rivers. 

The city of Davenport is named after him. He was much 
beloved by the Indians, and was prosperous in his business 
career. 

He moved out of the cabin built in 1816 into another 
larger house, and here, July 4, 1845, while his family was 
away attending a celebration he was murdered by a party 
of ruffians, bent on robbery. Some of the bandits were 
hanged, but some escaped after arrest. 

The Indians were accustomed to visit the Davenport grave 
on the island, and hold memorial services over it. 



J 



CHAPTER XIII. 

WITH PIKE UP THE MISSISSIPPI IN 1805. 

Soon after Louisiana Territory was purchased from 
France by the United States, the new owner took steps to 
investigate the nature of this mysterious region. Really, 
the government was not quite clear as to what it had bought. 
In fact, nobody knew. In the Upper Mississippi Valley, 
along the Mississippi there were St. Louis and Prairie du 
Chien, as settlements, and these were about all. Conse- 
quently there was much awaiting exploration. 

The result of the plans of the government were two ex- 
peditions, one sent up the Missouri in 1804, and the other 
dispatched up the Mississippi in 1805. The Missouri River 
party was in charge of Captain Meriwether Lewis, of the 
First Infantry, and formerly private secretary to President 
Jefiferson, and Second Lieutenant William Clarke of the ar- 
tillery. Clarke had been captain in the militia, so the title 
of captain usually is accorded him.. The expedition is known 
as "The Lewis and Clarke Expedition." It was one that 
had been favored by Jefferson for over ten years. 

The Mississippi River trip was taken by a command led 
by Lieutenant Zebulon Montgomery Pike. He was first 
Heutenant in the First Infantry, and in 1805 was a very 
young man. As an explorer and a soldier he gained great 
fame. Before he had passed middle age he was killed in a 

battle of the War of 1812, dying most bravely. 

100 



WITH PIKE UP THE MISSISSIPPI IN 1805. lOl 

Pike was sent out by the army ; Lewis and Clarke by the 
president. Both parties were authorized to confer with the 
Indians, and make notes regarding the regions traversed. 
In addition Pike was told to select points at which forts 
might be advantageously established, and to try to end the 
hostilities between the Sioux and the Ojibwas. British 
traders persisted in occupying territory that no longer be- 
longed to England, but to the United States, and Pike was 
instructed to look into this trespassing. These traders, act- 
ing as British agents, were too fond of stirring up the In- 
dians against the Americans. 

So, under orders from General James Wilkinson, on Au- 
gust 9, 1805, Lieutenant Pike set out from St. Louis to 
explore the Mississippi to its source. He had under him a 
sergeant, two corporals and seventeen privates. All were 
in a keel boat seventy feet long, and provisioned for four 
months. Progress was made by rowing and sailing, and 
was slow. 

It was August 20 when they arrived at the line, and on 
the left hand changed Missouri for Iowa. Here the party 
encountered the Des Moines Rapids. Pike terms them 
"Des Moyen" Rapids. He was met by WiUiam Ewing, an 
agent appointed by the government to teach the Sacs agri- 
culture. With Ewing was Louis Tesson, or Honori, a son 
of the Louis Tesson (Fresson) Honori who settled on the 
site of Montrose in 1799. Four chiefs and fifteen Sacs in 
canoes, flying the American flag, accompanied the two 
whites. With the aid of these men Pike's boat was enabled 
to ascend the rapids. 

The soldiers stopped at Ewing's post, where Nauvoo, 
Illinois, is, and in a big Sac village across the river (Mon- 



102 THE MAKING OF IOWA. 

trose) Pike addressed the Indians. He told them of his 
mission, and promised them that if they behaved themselves 
the great father at Washington would treat them well. He 
distributed presents, and the Indians replied with pleasant 
words. 

Continuing his journey, on August 23 Pike noted what he 
thought was a fine place for a fort. This was where Bur- 
lington now is. Four Indian men and two women ap- 
proached him in their canoes. He gave them some whisky 
mixed with water, and some biscuit. He asked them for 
meat, but they pretended not to understand him. After he 
left them they held two hams above their heads, and laughed 
at him. 

The next day, with a companion, he went ashore below 
Muscatine to look around and hunt. The two become en- 
tangled in the sloughs, and lost the way. The grass was so 
high, and the sun so hot that their valuable dogs were ex- 
hausted, lagged behind, and could not be found. Two men 
started to search for them, and although Pike waited quite 
a while at the river neither men nor dogs appeared. He 
camped that night in Iowa, opposite Keithsburg, Illinois. 
The next day he proceeded with the boat nearly to Musca- 
tine, passing the mouth of the Iowa River, and August 26 
he was where Montpelier now stands. The next stretch 
took him to the center of the tract where is to-day the city of 
Davenport. 

All this time Indians were being met, day after day. Some 
of them called "How do you do," which was all the English 
they knew. They beckoned to the Americans to stop on 
shore, but the soldiers were not anxious to do this. 

At the Rock River, Black Hawk, the Sac, with the people 



WITH PIKE UP THE MISSISSIPPI IN 1805. 103 

of the large village here, saw Pike and talked with him. 
Black Hawk, in telling about this meeting, said that the 
young white chief made a good impression, and seemed to 
be a very sensible youth. He wanted the Sacs to pull down 
a British flag which was flying and put up the American 
emblem, and to discard their British medals. But they did 
not do this. Black Hawk said they did not object to two 
masters. Probably they thought they could get more favors 
that way. Black Hawk also adds that they learned that 
those Indians who surrendered their medals received noth- 
ing in return. To tell the truth the Indians were sorry to 
have the Spanish and French give place to the Americans. 
The Americans were not popular. 

So Lieutenant Pike did not accomplish much at this place. 
Leaving Davenport he camped the next night at Le Claire, 
having ascended the rapids. He took breakfast with Foxes 
in a village about where Princeton, Iowa, now is, and then 
camped on the lower end of Beaver Island, five miles below 
Clinton. 

August 30 he was at Apple River, seven miles above Sa- 
bula. He admired the prominence of Leopold Hill, near 
Bellevue, and proceeded until he came to Fever River in 
Illinois, not far from Galena. This was a bad spot for a 
camp, but he did not know it. 

Sunday, September i, he reached Dubuque's establish- 
ment. Dubuque received him with a great demonstration. 

The principal Fox chief present then was named The 
Raven. After the noisy welcome had subsided Dubuque 
entertained Pike and did his best to be courteous to the 
official representing the new government. But Dubuque 
would not give the lieutenant clear information regarding 



104 TtiE MAKING OF IOWA. 

the mines. Pike, in his journal of the trip, comments on 
the extreme poHteness of "Monsieur Dubuque," and also 
on the manner with which the Frenchman evaded the ques- 
tions put to him. When Pike left the village the field piece 
was discharged again, and Dubuque insisted on escorting 
the expedition a few miles on its course. 

Not until this point was reached did the two soldiers lost 
below Muscatine arrive. They had fallen in with one Blon- 
deau — probably the Maurice Blondeau who, with Lemoili- 
ese, lived near Montrose — and he and some Indians guided 
them in canoes up to Dubuque's quarters. 

Blondeau was given passage by Pike to Prairie du Chien. 
He proved a valuable companion, because he spoke the 
Indian language. 

September 2 the Pike expedition camped opposite the 
mouth of the Turkey River, and the Fox village on the 
banks. 

Pike looked about for a site for a fort, and decided that 
the top of a lofty hill on the Iowa shore, opposite Prairie du 
Chien, was suitable. This hill once was termed Pike's 
Mountain. It is between McGregor and North McGregor. 
By it flows a creek called Bloody Run, formerly Gaillard. 
or Gayard Creek, named in memory of Gaillard, Dubuque's 
contemporary. Pike believed a fort here would command 
the Mississippi. 

He stayed a short time at Prairie du Chien, and obtained 
guides. Above Prairie du Chien, in the West, the Ameri- 
can flag never had floated. 

The officer and his followers set forth again into this 
wholly unknown country. They passed Painted Rock, and 
September 8, camped in Iowa, opposite Lynxville, Wiscon- 



WITH PIKE UP THE MISSISSIPPI IN 1805. lOS 

sin. They were about to meet the Sioux Indians, in whose 
territory they now were. 

On September lo a Sioux chief bearing a French name 
meaning The Leaf, sent six braves to Pike to say that he 
had waited for the Americans three days, and that at last his 
men had begun to drink, so that he could not receive the 
expedition until the next day, when all would be sober. Pike 
answered that he was in a hurry, and could not delay. The 
chief then sent him a pipe, as a sign of peace to all the 
Indians to the north, and soon the lieutenant went out to 
meet the Sioux at their village at the mouth of the Upper 
Iowa River, directly apposite the Bad Axe River of Wis- 
consin. The Bad Axe is where Black Hawk's forces suf- 
fered their last defeat, in 1832. 

The soldiers were hospitably received by the chief. The 
Sioux warriors were drawn up along the river, and fired a 
salute of three rounds. Their guns were loaded with bullets, 
and the half drunk men and boys tried to see how close they 
could come to the boat without hurting anybody. Pike 
thought this rather dangerous. 

But he ordered his party to return the salute with the 
blunderbuss carried in those days by the infantry. 

A conference followed, the lieutenant, in behalf of the 
government, promising the Indians good treatment, and 
urging them to cease their war with the Ojibwas. The 
Sioux responded with pledges of friendship, and soldiers 
and Red Men shook hands before parting. 

The expedition went on its way into Minnesota. 



CHAPTER XIV. 

HOW LEWIS AND CLARKE FARED. 

While Lieutenant Pike was talking with the Indians, lo- 
cating imaginary forts, and taking notes along the Missis- 
sippi on the eastern boundary of what is now Iowa, Captain 
Lewis and Lieutenant Clarke — or Captain Clarke we may 
call him — were far up the Missouri. They had passed Iowa, 
and were in a region wilder than any seen by Lieutenant 
Pike on the Upper Mississippi. 

The two officers had been instructed by Congress and by 
President Jefferson to ascend the Missouri to its source, if 
possible, and if they could reach the Pacific Ocean they 
might return by way of Cape Horn. They had under them 
twenty-seven men. Not all were soldiers, for this was not a 
military expedition, like Pike's. There were some soldiers, 
and the others were trappers, hunters, scouts, interpreters 
and men of habits peculiarly suited for service on such a 
trip. 

Two horses were taken. They were led or ridden along 
the banks, and when the hunters obtained game these horses 
were useful as pack animals. Hunters were sent out each 
day, if practicable, to forage for provision. 

One large keel boat and two smaller boats termed pi- 
rogues were employed to transport the party up stream. 
The members spent the winter of 1803-1804 in camp at 
Wood River, opposite the mouth of the Missouri, because 

106 



HOW LEWIS AND CLARKE FARED- 107 

Spanish officials, not having been notified of the transfer of 
Louisiana from Spain to France, and from France to the 
United States, would not allow them to proceed within the 
interior. 

But on May 14, 1804, the expedition was permitted to set 
forth. Quite a fleet this must have been — three boats loaded 
with hardy soldiers and adventurers. The soldiers were 
armed with the blunderbusses of the army, and the hunters 
and the other men had long rifles. The army uniform — 
rather more splendid than that of to-day — and the buckskin 
and fur caps of the trapper rubbed side by side. 

It took over two months to ascend as far as the southwest 
corner of what is to-day, Iowa. On July 18 the keel boat 
and the two pirogues glided past what is now the state line, 
and were between Nebraska and Iowa. The river was fall- 
ing, and the water was so muddy that Captain Lewis states 
it caused boils to become epidemic among the members 
of the expedition. Wild geese and deer were numerous, 
and sweet flag growing along the banks was gathered in 
quantities . 

The current of the river was swift, the channel not deep, 
and the progress of the boats was slow. It was hard work 
sailing, poling, rowing or hauling by ropes. 

July 22 camp was made just below the site of Council 
Bluffs, and July 29 another camp in Iowa was pitched a few 
miles above the mouth of Boyer Creek. 

Captain Lewis in his narrative remarks about the extra- 
ordinary number of snakes — particularly rattle snakes — seen 
during the first part of the voyage. The land and cliffs on 
either side of the river seemed swarming with venomous rep- 
tiles. 



108 THE MAKING OF IOWA. 

July 31, and the two days following, the expedition waited 
for Indians to send representatives, so that a council might 
to meet the Indians and explain matters to them. While 
waiting a beaver was captured alive by one of the trappers, 
and brought to the camp. Within a short time it was quite 
tame. The two horses disappeared July 31. It was thought 
be held. Lewis and Clarke, hke Pike, had been instructed 
they had been stolen by Indians. A man also was missed 
and it was the opinion he had deserted. August 2 delegates 
from the Otoes and the Missouris approached, and it was 
arranged a council should be held on the next morning. 

The council occurred near the camp, in what is now Ne- 
braska. From the event arose the name Council Blufifs, 
applied to our Iowa city. But the council actually was held 
west of the Missouri, and some distance away from what 
now is Council Bluffs. The Missouri River changes its 
channel so frequently, and the sandy soil enables it to shift 
its course so easily, that the country as seen by Lewis and 
Clarke in 1804 was somewhat different from the country of 
the same vicinity to-day. 

Having talked with the Indians, the party started again, 
stopping for camps in Harrison County, passing Soldier 
River, the Little Sioux River, and Pelican's Island, where 
vast numbers of this bird were found. One pelican was killed 
here whose pouch held five gallons of water. Lewis says 
this island was two miles beyond the mouth of the Little 
Sioux. 

Now the expedition camped for three nights in Monona 
County. The last camp was at Booge Lake. Then the boats 
crossed the line into Woodbury County, and camp was made 
near Crooked Lake. 



HOW LEWIS CLARKE FARED. 109 

Below here a few miles, in Nebraska, was a unique grave 
which was visited by the members of the expedition. A 
noted Omaha chief, leader of a band of Omahas, whose vil- 
lage was in Iowa not far above the mouth of Floyd River, 
was buried on the top of a high hill. He had said he wanted 
"to watch the traders." Therefore, sitting upright, astride 
his' favorite hoise, he was interred here to oversee the sur- 
rounding country. He had been such a terrible chief that 
the Indians were afraid of him even after he was dead. His 
name was Blackbird. 

The expedition was now nearing the mouth of the Big 
Sioux River. Beyond that the land on the right would no 
longer be what is now Iowa. But August 20, before reach- 
ing this point, Sergeant Charles Floyd died. He was buried 
on the crest of a great bluff in Iowa, and over him was 
erected a cedar post, bearing his name, and the date. 

The bluff was called Floyd Bluff. A little below is Ser- 
geant Bluff (Sergeant's Bluffs). Both are named in remem- 
brance of this soldier. About a mile above the bluff, where 
the grave is, is Floyd River. By 1839 ^^^ cedar post had 
fallen. It was replaced, but in time this mark also disap- 
peared. 

August 21 the site of Sioux City was reached, and pass- 
ing the mouth of the Big Sioux, or Calumet River, the expe- 
dition exchanged Iowa for Dakota. 



CHAPTER XV. 



A FEW ROMANCES. 



It has been noted that Antoine Le Claire and other early 
traders, and the like, in what is now Iowa, had Indian blood 
in their veins. Nearly all of these persons were of French 
extraction, usually the father having been French, while the 
mother represented the native American or Indian side. 

So, far from being deadly foes, white and Indian often 
joined forces, intermarried, and sustained intimate relations. 
The first trappers, traders and adventurers in Iowa Territory 
were French. The records do not show that the Spaniards 
came much above St. Louis. These Frenchmen established 
themselves in Indian villages, and were constantly with the 
Indians. They found it advisable to take Indian girls as 
brides. Not only were the maidens comely and attractive, 
but they made good wives and to have a chief as father-in- 
law proved quite advantageous. 

From such unions sprang families of "half-breeds," as the 
children of white parent and Indian parent were termed. 
The half-breeds cut considerable figure in Iowa's history, 
and their descendants can be found to-day in the State. 

Lemoiliese, the trader who in 1820 had a cabin where 
Sandusky, Lee County, is now, was wedded to an Indian 
woman, who is said to have been a most pleasant and ami- 
able wife. She was fond of dress, and to please her husband 

110 



A FEW ROMANCES. Ill 

would don gown, hat and shoes such as white women wear. 
But she preferred her own attire, and after she had proudly 
displayed herself in civilized garments, she would make 
haste to put on her accustomed style of Indian outfit. She 
chose the most brilliant colors for this, and strutted about 
like a peacock. 

Theophile Bruguier was a Frenchman who joined his 
fortunes with those of the Sioux Indians, and for many years 
dwelt with them in northern and northwestern Iowa. He 
married the daughter of War Eagle, and had great influence 
in his tribe. Finally he became tired of this life, and in May, 
1849, "^ith his Indian wife and his children settled at the 
mouth of the Big Sioux River, about two miles above where 
Sioux City now is. Here his wife died, and he took for his 
second spouse another daughter of War Eagle. She, also, 
died before he did. These are the two daughters beside 
whom War Eagle is buried. 

Not always was it a .Frenchman who married an Indian 
girl. Josiah Smart, an interpreter at the Sac and Fox 
agency, in Wapello County, was united with a Sac maiden, 
and their children were sent to St. Louis to be educated. 

Some of these Indian girls must have been exceedingly 
pretty, for it is stated that a young man from Baltimore, 
while visiting at Ft. Madison, fell in love with a daughter of 
Black Hawk. The Sac chief was then living near Ft. Madi- 
son. The Baltimore lad was cordially received at the Black 
Hawk cabin, and had just about concluded to marry the 
girl and take her back with him to Baltimore when a friend 
of his arrived on the scene. 

He told the love-sick youth that in Baltimore everybody 
would point and whisper on the street : "There goes So- 



112 THE MAKING OF IOWA. 

and-so with his squaw !" The young man was weak enough 
to give up his sweetheart and leave her. She promptly mar- 
ried one of her own people, which was very sensible in her. 

A romantic little tale is told about the true love of Dr. 
Samuel C. Muir, a Scotch surgeon in the army, and his 
Indian wife. Dr. Muir was stationed in a frontier fort, on 
the Mississippi. Probably it was Fort Edwards, where 
Warsaw, Illinois, stands, a short distance below Keokuk, or 
Fort Armstrong, on Rock Island. A Sac damsel dreamed 
that a white man paddled over the river in a canoe and came 
to her lodge. When she awoke she believed so strongly in 
her dream that she went to the fort in search of this person. 
She felt that he was to be her husband. She met Dr. Muir, 
and recognized him as the man of her vision. 

She related to him her experience, and he was so attracted 
by her innocence and devotion that he married her. 

His fellow officers sneered at her, and made fun of him, 
but he did not renounce her. It is said that once he was 
induced to go down the river to Bellefontaine, several hun- 
dred miles, and leave her behind. With her child in her 
arms she sought him, making the long journey with no 
assistance save such as she found in her canoe. When 
she reached him she was very thin. She exclaimed, piti- 
fully : "Me all perished away." 

He never again deserted her. 

In all other accounts Dr. Muir is represented as being 
loval to his wife on every occasion. While he was at his 
last station, Fort Edwards, the war department issued 
orders that all officers at posts on the frontier should forbid 
the presence of Indian women. Thus Dr. Muir must either 
abandon his wife or resign from the army. 



A FEW ROMANCES. 113 

He at once resigned, and when urged to reconsider his 
action held up his first born babe and said : 

"May God forbid that a son of Caledonia should ever 
desert his wife or abandon his child." 

He built the cabin that in 1820 stood on the site of Keo- 
kuk. He soon went to Galena to practice his profession, but 
in 1830 returned to the cabin. His Indian wife accompanied 
him wherever he went. He called her Sophia. The couple 
had five children, Louisa, James, Mary, Sophia and Samuel. 

In 1832 Dr. Muir died from cholera. His wife disap- 
peared. It is thought she rejoined her tribe. 

The Muir and Blondeau children, and other half-breeds, 
were regarded with such kindly feelins^s bv the Sacs and 
Foxes that when in 1824 these tribes ceded to the United 
States a tract of land in the northern part of Missouri, 
119,000 acres in what is now Iowa were reserved for half- 
breeds. The area was termed the Half-Breed Tract. It 
lay between the Des Moines and the Mississippi Rivers. 

The northern line of Missouri extended straight east, 
crossing the Des Moines, was to be the northern boundary 
of the tract. Thus the reservation was a triangle. 

Now if the line had been run by the surveyor due east 
it would have struck the Mississippi about at Montrose. 
But the surveyor made a mistake. The needle of his com- 
pass was affected by magnetic currents, so that as he pro- 
ceeded he inclined farther and farther northward, until the 
line reached the Mississippi at the lower edge of Fort 
Madison. 

So the funny little dip in the present State of Iowa, at the 
southeast corner, formerly was the Half-Breed Tract. It 
gave rise to much disputing in the courts, and to a corre- 
sponding amount of trouble. 



114 THE MAKING OF IOWA. 

The half-breeds were to occupy it, but it was to belong 
to the United States. In 1834, however, Congress decreed 
that the half-breeds should own the land. Immediately 
traders and swindlers flocked there in order to cheat the 
ignorant among the residents out of their property. Some 
half-breeds did not know much, and a barrel of liquor 
bought all they had. Then Indians would assert to have 
white blood and would put in claims for land they insisted 
was due them. All in all, matters were badly mixed. 

A commisison was appointed by the government to de- 
cide on the rights of various persons to land. After the 
commission had worked many months, the three members 
composing it found themselves unable to collect pay for 
services, as the Legislature of Wisconsin Territory would 
not allow their bills. They were told to collect of the half- 
breeds. 

Suits were won in the courts, and to raise the money de- 
manded the whole tract was sold to Hugh T\ Reid by the 
sheriff for $2,884.66 — cheap enough for 119,000 acres! 

Then Reid got into trouble with the tract, and at last, in 
1841, the supreme court decided that loi shares in the tract 
were the rightful ones. Consequently the area was divided 
into these loi shares, and that ended the difficulties, so far 
as the courts were concerned. 

Whether the half-breeds reaped any benefits from the 
kindness of their Indian friends is doubtful. The specula- 
tors proved too much for the prosperity of what might have 
proved a very unique settlement. 

At one time the people living on the tract even discussed 
withdrawal from the United States. This was in the fall of 
1836, when the question of territorial government for Iowa 



A FEW ROMANCES. 115 

was being considered. A meeting of half-breeds and other 
tract dwellers was held six miles west of Keokuk, and a 
number of local orators spoke from the head of a whisky 
barrel, giving as their opinion that the Half-Breed Tract was 
in no political organization at all, but should set up a gov- 
ernment of its own. 

However, after several speeches and some wordy com- 
bats, the level-headed among the settlers prevailed, and the 
Half-Breed Tract remained in the Union. 



CHAPTER XVI. 

TRADING POSTS AND INDIAN AGENCIES. 

Long before the country west of the Mississippi and 
north of St. Louis was penetrated by settlers, fur traders 
established themselves here, far beyond the outskirts of civ- 
ilization, and brought this apparently inaccessible region 
into touch with the world of the white man. 

As soon as the New World was discovered the people 
of the Old World began to devise ways and means whereby 
they could make money in America. Some planned to get 
gold direct from the Indians, who were supposed to possess 
large quantities of the precious metal. Others saw in the 
animals of forest and stream a wealth of fur, and companies 
were organized to procure valuable skins from the aborig- 
ines. At first the Indians wanted little in exchange for the 
skins. A few beads and other trinkets sufftced to purchase 
furs on which the merchants made immense profit. 

The search for furs led hardy and adventurous men to 
bury themselves in the wilderness. They became ac- 
quainted with the savages, learned the chorography of the 
country, and were important factors in opening up new 
territory. As civilization pushed farther and farther west, 
the fur hunters and traders kept in advance of it. 

When Louisiana Territory was purchased from France, 
already St. Louis was headquarters for fur trading firms. 
One of the most influential, as well as one of the largest 
of these concerns, was the American Fur Company. This 
corporation in its prime was princely in its operations and 

116 



TRADING POSTS AND INDIAN AGENCIES. 117 

unexcelled in its enterprise, rivaling the famous Hudson 
Bay Company. We find its name connected with the 
founding of a number of Iowa towns, which once were but 
trading posts. 

The earliest agents for the fur companies were French- 
Canadians, or of French-Indian blood. In many a wild 
locality, where men of white lineage never before had trod, 
these traders established camps, forming a connecting link 
between savages and the semi-culture of the frontier. 

Most of the fur traders who established themselves in 
Iowa prior to the settlement of the country carried their 
goods to St. Louis. Not always were they representatives 
of companies. Often they were independent, doing busi- 
ness on their own account, although eventually disposing of 
their skins to firms or corporations. 

It is safe to say that Dubuque dealt in furs as well as in 
lead, and that the articles he bore down the Mississippi to 
St. Louis included fine peltries as well as the product of 
his mines. Colonel George Davenport, who lived on Rock 
Island, conducted a fur business of extensive scope, and 
for a time was a serious competitor of the American Fur 
Company itself. Lemoihese and Blondeau were fur trad- 
ers, and doubtless Gaillard, Dubuque's Iowa neighbor, 
came into this district for the express purpose of trading 
with the Indians. 

Clear from Lake Michigan traders came to St. Louis. 
In their batteaux or barges they ascended the Fox, made 
the portage at the Wisconsin, and sailing down that river 
entered the Mississippi. Picking up a cargo on their way, 
they finally drew up at the landing place at St. Louis, sig- 
nalizing their arrival by a discharge of rifles and a gay song. 



118 THE MAKING OF IOWA. 

Many a time have the woods Hning the Mississippi on 
the Iowa side echoed to the careless, happy choruses of 
these voyageurs, as they were termed, who, although brown 
and wiry as Indians, sang the songs of France. 

At first the bold traders merely made trips up the Iowa 
streams and into the regions bordering, collecting furs 
wherever possible, until enough were obtained to warrant 
return to some rendezvous where a purchaser would be 
found. Then followed the establishment of posts, more easy 
of access for the Indians themselves, as well as for the 
wandering traders and trappers. The big companies, with 
western headquarters at St. Louis, erected cabins at points 
deemed proper along the Mississippi, Iowa, Des Moines, 
Wapsipinicon and other rivers. Agents were stationed 
here to barter with the Indians and to receive furs and for- 
ward them to headquarters. Sometimes these posts fell 
into disuse and were abandoned. Sometimes they collected 
around them other cabins, from which finally grew a city. 

When settlers arrived the posts proved stores at which 
supplies would be purchased. 

Among the fur trading companies which extended their 
business into Iowa were the American, the Green Bay, the 
Mackinaw and the widely known houses controlled by the 
Chouteaus, of St. Louis. The Chouteaus were celebrated 
traders from before the purchase of Louisiana Territory by 
the United States until after Iowa became a Territory. It 
was with Auguste Chouteau Dubuque transacted business. 

Pierre Chouteau, Sr., established a trading post where 
now stands the city of Ottumwa, and when in 1837 the Sacs 
and Foxes were removed to the locality the ruins of the old 
building could be descried. Pierre Chouteau, Jr., & Co. 



TRADING POSTS AND INDIAN AGENCIES. 119 

succeeded the elder trader at this point, and had a post 
among these two tribes. S. S. Phelps and Captain William 
Phelps were the agents for the company. Captain Phelps 
was so jolly that the Indians termed him Che-che-pe-qua, 
or ''Winking Eyes." Ottumwa became one of the most 
important trading posts in Iowa. 

Where Eddyville is, formerly was a trading post under 
the management of J. P. Eddy. This post was called 
"Hardfisher," because it was in the village of Chief Hard 
Fish. 

Two men named Ewing conducted a trading post at the 
mouth of Sugar Creek, near Ottumwa ; and at lowaville, 
Muscatine and Keokuk were other estabhshments. In 
1843 the Ewings and the two Phelps accompanied the Sac 
and Fox agency to Des Moines. 

When the Sacs and Foxes lived on the Iowa River, just 
^fter the Black Hawk Purchase, John Gilbert, representing 
the Green Bay Fur Company, was in charge of a trading 
post in what is now Pleasant Valley township, Johnson 
County. He died here and was buried near the point. He 
was probably the first white man to enter Johnson County. 
It is said his true name was John W. Prentice. His life 
carried a certain mystery which never has been cleared up. 

In the early days Sioux City and Council Bluffs were 
well known trading points. As far back as 1824 a French- 
man named Hart had a trading post on the bluf¥s within the 
limits of the present city of Council Bluffs. At this time the 
American Fur Company was sending parties of traders up 
the Missouri, and soon established a station not far from 
Hart's. The bluff here was called Hart's Bluff. The Amer- 
ican Fur Company also had an important station at Sioux 



120 THE MAKING OF IOWA. 

City, and maintained a line of steamboats. Competing 
firms attempting to ascend beyond the mouth of the Big 
Sioux were turned back, if possible, and some rough en- 
counters occurred. 

The general stores kept by the traders were curious 
afifairs. When the tide of immigration crossed the Missis- 
sippi, and began to press forward up the Missouri, these 
general stores supplied the wants of the settlers, as well as 
those of the Indians. As late as 185 1 the house of Charles 
P. Booge, with headquarters at St. Louis, advertises at 
Sioux City ''molasses, hams, corn, Rio coffee, codfish, to- 
bacco, soap, candles, whisky, brandy, gin, beer, wine, pow- 
der, shot, caps, gun wadding, indigo, glass and nails." 

This was a varied stock of goods, was it not ? 

Indian customers of the trading stores purchased an odd 
assortment. But they were good patrons, because they 
were honest, and paid their debts more promptly than did 
the whites. When an Indian made out his note, acknowl- 
edging his indebtedness to a trader, he reversed the usual 
procedure and kept the note instead of handing it over to 
the store keeper. The Indian gravely said he did this so 
it would remind him when he must pay. He stuck the note 
in a corner of his blanket, or laid it in his cabin, and when 
the time was up — which would be the date on which the 
government money was due, or when the hunting season 
supplied skins — he would appear at the store and cancel 
his obligation. Then he gave the note to the trader. Pos- 
session by the trader, said the Indian, was a sign that the 
note had been paid. 

Here are some extracts from the trading books of Mr. 
Eddy, who had a post where Eddyville now is : 



TRADING POSTS AND INDIAN AGENCIES. 121 

"Kish-ke-kosh : Broadcloth, eight yards of ribbon, pair 
of stockings, one coffin, more ribbons, saddle, bridle, lard, 
pins, pen knife, looking glass, sugar, coffee, parasol." 

Evidently Kish-ke-kosh purchased for his squaw, too, 
although even the braves did not disdain to carry around a 
gay parasol. We wonder for whom was the coffin. 

"An-a-mo-sah : Handkerchief, broadcloth, leggins, para- 
sol, shroud, calico." 

An-a-mo-sah, too, must have been thinking of death, for 
he purchased a shroud. It is safe to say the broadcloth and 
the ribbons bought by Kish-ke-kosh and An-a-mo-sah were 
of the best quality. The Indians paid particular attention 
to these and to their blankets. 

Mam-me-peo seems to have been going on the war path, 
for some of his purchases are of a bloodthirsty nature. 
There are charged to him ''two hoes, paper of needles, cof- 
fee pot, box of Vermillion (to paint his face), silk thread and 
two scalping knives." 

Neo-pope had a bad daughter. An item about him 
reads : 

"Powder ($7), one bolt ribbon (stolen by his daughter). 
Credit of 11 coon skins, five deer skins, one bear skin." 

While trading posts preceded Indian agencies, the two 
institutions soon became intimately connected, and we may 
consider them together. When the government began to 
exercise supervision over the trfbes agents were appointed 
to live in the midst of the savages, to represent the United 
States and to watch over and advise the Red Men. Among 
the first agencies in the vicinity of Iowa were those on 
Rock Island, for the Sacs and Foxes, and at Prairie du 
Chlen for the Winnebagoes. 



122 THE MAKING OF IOWA. 

In 1838 the agency for the Sacs and Foxes was located 
at the point in Wapello County now called Agency City. 
General Joseph M. Street, who had been agent for the 
Winnebagoes, was placed over the Sacs and Foxes. Chief 
Poweshiek himself aided in selecting the spot to which the 
quarters should be changed from Rock Island. A black- 
smith shop and other buildings were erected. The most 
important structure was the council house, where the agent 
and the Indians met to talk over matters. 

In 1840 General Street died. The Indians mourned him 
deeply. They termed him their '"father." Chief Wapello 
requested to be buried beside the agent. The graves are 
not far from the old agency buildings. When Chief Wa- 
pello died he was interred beside General Street, whom he 
had loved so dearly. 

Major John Beach, a West Point graduate, succeeded 
General Street as agent of the Sacs and Foxes. He had 
married General Street's daughter. He retained the posi- 
tion of agent until the tribes signed the treaty relinquish- 
ing their claim to any lands in Iowa. The last agency was 
at Raccoon Forks, within the limits of the present city of 
Des Moines. 

Jonathan Emerson Fletcher was agent for the Winne- 
bagoes while they were in Iowa. The agency was at Fort 
Atkinson, on the Turkey River, where Postville is. The 
name ''Postville" recalls the old agency and military post. 

The agency for the Pottawattamies was at Traders' Point, 
near the east bank of the Missouri, in what is now Mills 
County. A sub-agency was at Council Bluffs. Davis Har- 
din was the agent for the Pottawattamies. 

These Indian agencies established in Iowa were gather- 



TRADING POSTS AND INDIAN AGENCIES. 123 

ing places for the Indians from the villages of the sur- 
rounding territory, and for the half-breeds and the whites 
who dealt with the tribes and with each other. Here was 
transacted the business of the community. Traders located 
their stores at the agencies, as the most convenient place 
from which the Indians could be reached. At Raccoon 
Forks, at Rock Island, at Fort Atkinson and at some other 
points where agencies were, soldiers were quartered. The 
agency was quite a gay sight, with the Indians coming and 
going, the traders and trappers bartering and talking, and 
the uniforms of the soldiers mingling with the semi-civil- 
ized garb of frontier life. 

Most of the old trading posts and agency buildings have 
disappeared. Only occasionally are the ruins to be pointed 
out as relics of the beginning of town and city. 



CHAPTER XVII. 

FIGHTING INDIANS AT FORT MADISON. 

Where the city of Fort Madison, in Lee County, now is, 
once stood a small fort, with three block houses. The his- 
toric structure was close to the river, about a third of a 
mile from the present state penitentiary. During- its exist- 
ence this fort experienced many stormy scenes. When it 
was built, in 1808, the country round about was a wilder- 
ness. Through the forest and up the river the Indians 
spread news that the government was erecting a fort within 
their territory and they consulted together to efifect its de- 
struction. Attack after attack was made on the little garri- 
son, until in 1813 the soldiers were forced to fiee for their 
lives. In 1817 only a tall chimney and a covered way were 
left to mark the site. 

It was toward the last of September, 1808, that Lieuten- 
ant Alpha Kingsley, of the First Infantry, with a detachment 
of soldiers, landed at a point above the Des Moines Rapids, 
where he thought a fort might well be established. Lieu- 
tenant Kingsley, while at Bellefontaine, had been ordered 
to ascend the Mississippi as far as the River Des Moines — 
or Le Moine, as it was termed — and fix on a suitable loca- 
tion for a fort. 

So on November 22 he writes from "garrison at Belle 
Vue, near River Le Moine," to Henry Dearborn, Secretary 
of War, reporting that a place about twenty five miles 
above the Le Moine, had been selected. Lieutenant Kings- 

124 



FIGHTING INDIANS AT FORT MADISON. 125 

ley thought the location advantageous. It was high, com- 
manding a wide view, and near by was an excellent spring. 

The elevated site caused him to speak of the spot as 
Belle Vue, meaning a fine or handsome outlook. His plan 
was to build a fort in shape like a square, with two block 
houses at the corners of the river side, and a third block 
house set out a short distance from the rear side, so as to 
command the two corners here. Thus the four angles were 
protected. Between this block house and the wall of the 
fort stood a factory building and store house for trading 
with the Indians. A high fence of pickets, called a palisade, 
surrounded the whole, block houses and all. 

When Lieutenant Kingsley ana men arrived at this point 
it was too late in the season to commence erecting the fort, 
so chey went into winter camp. They put up a palisade, in- 
closing their camp, and passed the winter in preparing tim- 
ber. The pickets for the palisade of the fort were of white 
oak, a foot or a foot and a half in diameter, and fourteen 
feet long. 

Black Hawk and other Indians from the Rock River 
country visited the scene, to see what was going on. Lieu- 
tenant Kingsley told them that he was about to build a 
trading post, where they might get all the blankets and 
whisky they wanted. But the Indians knew soldiers would 
not be sent to do this kind of work. The Sacs and Foxes 
were displeased because the government was planning a 
fort here, and they determined to destroy the structure. 

During this winter the Indians took great delight in 
frightening the soldiers. Some of the regulars had had no 
experience with Red Men, and were easily alarmed. The 
company was a small one, and alone among a people whose 



126 THE MAKING OF IOWA. 

intentions, since the treaty of 1804, were not particularly 
friendly. Once a party of soldiers, while cutting timber, 
laid down their muskets. Black Hawk and companions 
sneaked up quietly and seized the guns. Then they gave a 
great yell. The soldiers, frightened half to death, ran to get 
their arms — and could not find them. The Indians thought 
this a fine joke and laughed as they gave back the weapons. 

Lieutenant Kingsley and his soldiers spent a rather anx- 
ious winter, and when early in the spring information came 
from various sources that the Indians were scheming to 
raid the settlements, and as the first step would try to wipe 
out the soldiers, all haste was made to erect the fort. In 
two weeks the block houses were built and the pickets for 
the stockade set, the soldiers sleeping on their arms at 
night. On April 14 the company moved into the new fort, 
where more security was af^oraed. Then the garrison pre- 
pared for attack. 

Quash-qua-me, the Sac chief whose village was at Com- 
merce (Nauvoo), across the river from Montrose, Pash-e- 
pa-ho, who afterwards led the Sacs and Foxes against the 
lowas, and Black Hawk, who possessed the medicine bag, 
conspired together to capture Fort Belle Vue, or Fort Madi- 
son, as it had been christened. They decided to have their 
warriors dance for the soldiers, and thus get inside the 
stockade. Then weapons, concealed under blankets, would 
be suddenly used, and the garrison massacred. 

But a pretty Sac maiden, who was in love with an ofificer 
of the fort, heard about the plot. She came weeping to the 
fort, and when asked by her sweetheart the reason for her 
grief she told him what the Indians were planning to do. 

Quash-qua-me was one of the chiefs who had signed the 



FIGHTING Ix\DIANS AT FORT MADISON. 127 

treaty of 1804,' at St. Louis, and was so trusted by the garri- 
son that he was allowed to move about just as he pleased. 
When, on the evening set by the Indians for the attack, he 
and several other chiefs appeared before the stockade they 
were admitted, one at a time, just as usual. Soon a great 
number of braves approached and began to dance before 
the gate. Quash-qua-me gave a certain signal and they 
made a rush for the gate, expecting the chiefs within 
would help them to enter. 

But instead of finding a clear path they stopped short 
right in front of a cannon which had been unmasked. It 
was loaded with grape, and beside it stood a soldier with 
lighted match ! 

This upset their plans. They saw that their plot had 
been discovered. Turning to Quash-qua-me and the other 
chiefs, the commander of the fort bitterly reproached them 
for treachery. He ordered some of the warriors to be 
searched, and the weapons disclosed beneath their blankets 
proved what had been arranged. The Indians were allowed 
to depart, convinced that the white men could read their 
thoughts.. 

Still the Sacs and Foxes, and the Winnebagos from 
the north, hung around Fort Madison. Black Hawk says 
that they used to annoy the soldiers by standing on boxes 
and stumps and looking over the pickets of the first camp, 
and doubtless they tried the same plan at the fort itself. 

The factory building was finished in the winter of 1809- 
1810, the soldiers being allowed extra pay of ten cents a 
day and a gill of whisky per man for doing the work. The 
use of a "factory building" is not stated, but it was a de- 
partment of an army post in an Indian country. 



128 THE MAKING OF IOWA. 

In May, 1809, Captain Horatio Stark, of the First In- 
fantry, was ordered from Fort Adams, Mississippi, to Fort 
Madison. He reached the frontier post the last of August, 
and reheved Lieutenant Kingsley, who was glad enough 
to have the responsibility taken of¥ his shoulders. After 
Captain Stark's arrival the garrison numbered eighty-one. 
Life at the fort was by no means monotonous. The Indians 
were up to mischief, and an attack was likely to be made 
any night. St. Louis, two hundred miles away, and Prairie 
du Chien, three hundred miles in the other direction, were 
the nearest points of importance. If assistance was needed 
word must be sent to St. Louis. A reply would not come 
for some weeks. 

The Indians got bolder and bolder. The winter of 181 1- 
1812 was an uneasy one for the garrison under Captain 
Stark. Lieutenant Kingsley had left, probably rejoiced to 
escape with his scalp whole. During 181 1 the Indians 
killed several whites near the fort itself, destroyed prop- 
erty of trappers and traders, and seemed ready to assail the 
garrison. Ensign Barony Vasquez, with twelve men, was 
sent to the fort to reinforce the troops there, and Captain 
Stark was ordered to put the place in state for the best 
defense. Before winter Captain Stark left and Lieutenant 
Thomas Hamilton was put in command. 

September 5, at half past five in the afternoon, two hun- 
dred Indians — Winnebagoes, Sacs and Foxes — attacked 
Fort Madison. John Cox, a soldier, was caught outside the 
stockade and was killed and scalped. The Indians shot fire- 
arrows onto the fort and threw blazing brands onto the 
roof, trying to set the woodwork on fire. They burned 
some of the outlying buildings, slaughtered the live stock, 



FIGHTING INDIANS AT FORT MADISON. 129 

destroyed corn, and all the time used arrows with lighted 
matches tied to them. 

The situation of the garrison was desperate. The sol- 
diers took off their gun barrels and made them into 
syringes, through which they squirted water upon the 
flames. 

Lieutenant Hamilton feared the savages would await a 
favorable wind and then fire the factory, so that the blaze 
would leap to the fort. On the evening of the seventh he 
sent a soldier to burn this building before the Indians' 
opportunity should come. The brave soldier accomplished 
his purpose and re-entered the fort in safety. A few In- 
dians attempted to occupy an old stable, but Ensign Vas- 
quez turned a cannon against them, and, according to the 
report published in the papers of the period, ''soon made 
their yellow jackets fly." 

On the eighth the Indians gave up the attack and crossed 
the river. Besides John Cox the garrison lost not a man. 
Only one was wounded. 

The Indians, however, withdrew but for a short time. 
In July, 1813, the post was attacked twice, and several sol- 
diers were surprised and killed. The first attack was on 
the morning of the eighth. A party of Indians formed an 
ambush in the gully of a spring about a hundred yards from 
the southeast corner of the fort, and shot some soldiers 
who were after water. On the sixteenth occurred the sec- 
ond surprise. This time a corporal and three privates were 
the victims. 

Lieutenant Hamilton had sent them to defend a small 
block house he had erected to prevent the Indians from 
again concealing themselves at the spring. The guard v^^as 



130 THE MAKING OF IOWA. 

outside when the savages suddenly appeared. When the 
corporal and his men tried to get into the block house an 
Indian thrust his long spear into the crack of the door so 
that the bar could not be thrown into place. Then, while 
one Indian dug out the underpinning of the building, others 
forced the door. "In less than ten minutes," says Lieuten- 
ant Hamilton, "all the soldiers were killed." 

By this time the garrison, which numbered about one 
hundred men, was getting heartily sick of the fort. The 
location was a bad one, because the Indians were able to 
conceal themselves in many a gully and ditch and could 
easily cut ofT any person who had ventured outside. Lieu- 
tenant Hamilton, July i8, 1813, writes quite a letter to 
headquarters protesting against being obliged to risk his 
command in such a place and commenting on the reckless 
bravery of the Indians in storming the block houses. He 
asks for fifty pounds of musket powder and one hundred 
shells for the cannon. He adds a postscript saying that 
■ he hopes to hear within a month from the commanding offi- 
cer at St. Louis, and trusts an order. will come for removal 
of the garrison. 

"If I do not hear from you by the 20th of August, and 
the Indians continue to harass me in the manner they ap- 
pear determined to do," continues Lieutenant Hamilton, 
"I do not know but I will take the responsibility on myself, 
that is, if they will permit me to go away. It is impossible 
for us to do duty long in the manner that I have adopted." 

But Lieutenant Hamilton could not wait to get word 
from St. Louis. Ere September began, and while he was 
thinking every day reinforcements or new orders would 
arrive, the savages settled around the fort in a regular 



FIGHTING INDIANS AT FORT MADISON. 131 

siege. The British urged them on to capture the stubborn 
garrison that had so long resisted them. The War of 1812 
was being waged, and the United States had little time to 
spare for Fort Madison. Supplies destined for the fort were 
delayed. Lieutenant Hamilton and his men were on the 
verge of starvation. The warhoop kept them awake and on 
their feet day and night. The Indians glided among the 
trees and through the gullies like shadows, shooting at the 
sentinels and sending bullets and arrows through the loop- 
holes. It was decided to abandon the fort. 

A trench was dug from the southeast block house to the 
river. On the night of September 3, the soldiers, creeping 
on hands and knees, filed through this trench, and into the 
post's boats moored at the river. The Indians were 
keeping watch on the fort, but were completely deceived. 
One soldier remained behind a moment to touch a torch to 
the buildings. When the Indians saw the blaze the garrison 
was far down the river and safe. 

This was the end of old Fort Madison. As soon as the 
savages found the soldiers had fled they swarmed into the 
burning structure, but found little of value. 

For a long time after this the Indians called the spot Po- 
to-wo-noc, meaning Place of Fire. Rivermen who passed 
up and down the Mississippi spoke of it as Lone Chimney. 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

OTHER IOWA FORTS. 

Fort Madison was the first fort built in what is now 
Iowa. After its destruction twenty years elapsed ere an- 
other military post was established west of the Mississippi 
in this section. In 1834 Fort Des Moines was built about 
where Montrose, Lee County, is. There have been two 
forts bearing the name Des Moines. The one in Lee 
County was the first. 

This Fort Des Moines was erected by Lieutenant Colo- 
nel Stephen Kearny, who had with him three companies of 
United .States dragoons, as the cavalry of those days was 
called. Lieutenant Colonel Kearny and his command ar- 
rived at the site in the latter part of September, 1834. By 
spring the fort was ready for occupancy. 

The Black Hawk Purchase was being settled, and the 
soldiers were needed as a protection from possible out- 
breaks by the Indians. The presence of the troops also ex- 
ercised a quieting influence on the rough characters who 
might have stirred up trouble. 

Some of the officers stationed here afterwards became 
famous. One of the captains was Nathaniel Boone, son of 
the celebrated Daniel Boone, of Kentucky. E. V. Sumner 
and Jesse B. Browne were the other captains. The dra- 
goons wore great epaulets and their swords were so tre- 
mendously long that they trailed on the ground behind. 

The soldiers did not remam long at Fort Des Moines, for 
in October, 1836, they were ordered to withdraw. By the 

132 



OTHER IOWA FORTS. 133 

next summer the fort had been abandoned. The colonel's 
house became a hotel and was named the River House. 

The second Fort Des Moines was located" where the city 
of Des Moines now stands. It was built in 1843, ^^^ ^^ 
first was christened Fort Raccoon. In May, 1843, the 
steamboat lone landed troops at the mouth of the Raccoon 
River. A fort was erected on the ground at the angle 
formed by the meeting of the Raccoon and the Des Moines 
Rivers. The commanding officer was Captain James Allen. 
He had under him a company of dragoons and a company 
of infantry. 

The soldiers were stationed here to watch over the In- 
dians until settlers were permitted to occupy the territory. 
The rights of the Indians to the land were looked after, 
and settlers were not allowed to cross the border into the 
New Purchase, or west of Redrock, until the time ap- 
pointed. The last soldier left the fort in June, 1846. By 
this time the Sacs and Foxes had been removed to Kansas. 

When the Wmnebagoes were quartered in Iowa, and had 
a reservation in the Neutral Ground, along the Upper Iowa 
River, soldiers were stationed among them. The post was 
called Fort Atkinson, named after General Atkinson, a com- 
mander-in-chief prominent in military operations in the 
Upper Mississippi Valley. The fort was on the right bank 
of the Turkey River, about fifty miles from the Mississippi 
at McGregor. Postville now stands on the site. Fort At- 
kinson was abandoned in 1856. 

Where the city of Fort Dodge is once stood Fort Clarke. 
Fort Clarke was established in the summer of 1850, and 
garrisoned by Company E of the Sixth Infantry. Brevet 
Major Woods was in command. The troops were a pro- 



134 THE MAKING OF IOWA. 

tection to the settlers, who were pressing toward the north- 
west. In 1 85 1 General VVinfield Scott ordered the name 
changed to Fort Dodge. In 1853 the soldiers withdrew. 

Before Iowa became a State, Council Bluffs also was a 
military station. There are reports to the effect that in 1838 
two companies of infantry were sent up the Missouri on a 
steamboat, and disembarked where Council Bluffs now is. 
The presence of the Pottawattamie Indians in Southwestern 
Iowa seemed to render a military force necessary. A block 
house was erected beside the Bryant Spring. The troops 
were not required in the reservation, and in a short time 
they abandoned the fort. Two Roman Catholic priests. 
Fathers De Smet and Verreydt, who were in charge of a 
mission for the Pottawattamies, moved into the buildings 
left by the soldiers, placed a wooden cross over the bar- 
racks, and used the structures in mission work. The Pierce 
street school building, a half century later, was built over 
the old burying ground of the fort and mission. 

There are reports of another fort in this vicinity. It was 
called Fort Fenwick and Fort Croghan. In the spring of 

1842 Captain John H. K. Burgwin was dispatched up the 
Missouri with a detachment of soldiers to establish quar- 
ters among the Pottawattamies. He selected a site for the 
post in what is now the southeastern portion of Council 
Bluffs. High water in the spring of 1843 made the garri- 
son temporarily abandon the fort and take a new position 
on the west side of Little Mosquito Creek. The water cov- 
ered the valley of the Missouri bottoms. When it sub- 
sided the soldiers returned to Fort Croghan. By the fall of 

1843 the Pottawattamies no longer needed protection from 
outsiders, and the troops withdrew to Fort Leavenworth. 



OTHER IOWA FORTS. 



135 







'Si 
m 




OLD BLOCK HOUSE AT COUNCIL BLUFFS. 



136 THE MAKING OF IOWA. 

During the military operations in Iowa a number of men 
afterwards distinguished in the service of their country 
came within the borders. Jefferson Davis was stationed at 
Fort Armstrong, on Rock Island, and on several occasions 
traversed sections of Eastern Iowa. Robert E. Lee was in 
Southeastern Iowa on a surveying trip. He was then a 
young lieutenant. Winfield Scott, the great leader in the 
Mexican War, was in command at Fort Armstrong. We 
have read of the treaty he concluded with the Sacs and 
Foxes, where Davenport now stands. Zachary Taylor was 
stationed at Prairie du Chien, and served elsewhere along 
the frontier, and was up and down the river many times. 
A report sent by him to the war department in 1814 is dated 
at Fort Madison — at that time but a ruin. 

While we are dealing with forts and military events of 
early Iowa, we cannot pass over Fort Armstrong. Although 
this fort was not within the limits of the present State, its 
history is shared by Iowa as well as by Illinois. 

The attempt to build it brought on that battle in the river 
channel about midway between the present cities of Daven- 
port and Rock Island, when Major Zachary Taylor and his 
soldiers were defeated and sent back to St. Louis. 

The War of 18 12 had broken out. In acting as com- 
mander, Governor Clarke — the same Clarke who headed 
the Lewis and Clarke expedition in 1804 — of Missouri, sent 
a force to take possession of Prairie du Chien and fortify it. 
The troops, part volunteers and part regulars, left St. Louis 
early in May, 1814. Lieutenant Joseph Perkins com- 
manded, but Governor Clarke himself accompanied the 
barges bearing the troops. 

When the Americans reached Prairie du Chien they 



OTHER IOWA FORTS. 13? 

found that Colonel Dickson, who was the British agent 
and Indian trader there, having recruited three hundred 
Sioux and Winnebagoes three weeks previous, had lett with 
the Indians for the British army in Canada. Prairie du 
Chien, although in American territory, really had been a 
British post until the arrival of the United States soldiers. 

Colonel Dickson had stationed a few soldiers, called 
Mackinaw Fencibles, in the post, to guard it. They surren- 
dered at once. Lieutenant Perkins was rejoiced at the easy 
victory. He quarterecl his men in the Mackinaw Fur Com- 
pany's trading house until a fort could be built. Governor 
Clarke hastened back to St. Louis in great glee and an- 
nounced the victory. The people of St. Louis gave him a 
banquet and reception as a celebration. 

However, hardly had the governor finished his tale of 
victory, and told of the building of the new fort — christened 
Fort Shelby — when, July 17, a force of British allies, made 
up of traders' clerks and Indians, appeared before Fort 
Shelby and demanded its surrender. Lieutenant Perkins 
resisted for three Hays. Then he capitulated. Colonel 
Mackey, who commanded the attacking party, thanked 
Lieutenant Perkins for building such a nice fort. 

"We like it much better than the old quarters," said Colo- 
nel Mackey, smiling. 

So Lieutenant Perkins and his men, having given up 
their possessions, sorrowfully descended the river, and 
reached St. Louis August 6. 

In the meantime afifairs below Prairie du Chien, also, 
had not progressed favorably for the Americans. General 
Howard, who had been absent from St. Louis, had come 
back and had decided to reinforce Fort Shelbv. He dis- 



138 THE MAKING OF IOWA. 

patched another expedition, under Lieutenant John Camp- 
bell of the regular army. Three keel boats, carrying forty- 
two regulars and sixty-six volunteers, or rangers, set out 
from St. Louis about the first of July. Captain Stephen Rec- 
tor and Lieutenant Riggs commanded the rangers. Con- 
tractors' and sutlers' outfits, in boats, and having women 
and children among the passengers, accompanied the 
troops. 

Now, Captain Rector's boat was navigated by French 
rivermen from the old French settlement of Cahokia, a few 
miles south of St. Louis, in Illinois. They were splendid 
sailors and soldiers. When the troops reached the Rock 
River they landed for a rest and to spend the night before 
ascending the rapids that reach from Davenport to Le 
Claire. The Sacs and Foxes from the villages nearby 
swarmed around, as friendly as could be, in appearance. 
Black Hawk was in the crowd. 

Within a few hours after the arrival of the Americans a 
Winnebago messenger brought word to the Sacs and 
Foxes of the capture of Fort Shelby by the British, and 
urged them to continue the work by attacking this expedi- 
tion. Black Hawk and the others laid their plans accord- 
ingly. They did not want to hurt the Frenchmen, because 
they liked the French. 

Therefore the Cahokians began to be aware that the Sacs 
and Foxes were pulling them by the hands, secretly, in a 
down stream direction, as a sign that it was better to go 
back to St. Louis. The French told Lieutenant Campbell 
trouble was intended. He only laughed. 

"Why," he said, ''these fellows are all right. See how 
friendly they are. What would make them attack us ? You 
chaps are too easily frightened. You're afraid." 



OTHER IOWA FORTS. 139 

Just as the Indians wanted it to do, the expedition, early 
the next morning, proceeded on its course, the Cahokians 
sticking to Captain Rector. A terrible gale, blowing right 
against the barges, suddenly arose. The inexperienced 
men had hard work to control their crafts, but tlie Cahokia 
voyageurs were in their element. Finally Lieutenant Camp- 
bell's boat was blown ashore on an island about two miles 
above Rock Island and near the mainland. The other 
barges were some distance ahead. 

The soldiers of the Campbell detachment thought they 
might as well improve their time by getting breakfast. 
They were busy over their fires when, before the sentinels 
could give the alarm, the Indian warhoop sounded and bul- 
lets and arrows fell like rain. Those regulars not disabled 
rushed for the protection of the barge. 

From their position in the rapids Captain Rector and 
Lieutenant Riggs, looking back, could see the smoke of the 
battle, although they could not hear the reports of the mus- 
kets and rifles. The officers ordered their boatmen to turn 
the crafts and to make all haste to the rescue. But the 
Riggs boat became unmanageable and was stranded. Cap- 
tain Rector kept on. 

When he approached he saw that the Campbell party was 
about to be slaughtered. Black Hawk and other warriors 
had shot blazing arrows against the big sail and into the 
sides of the barge, until fire was gaining great headway. 
The ammunition of the soldiers was running short, and the 
bottom of the boat was slippery with blood from dead and 
wounded. Then Captain Rector and his men did a brave 

act. 

They threw overboard most of their provisions, and what- 



140 THE MAKING OF IOWA. 

ever else they could, to lighten the boat. They themselves 
jumped over into the water on the side opposite from the 
Indians. While some fired from their guns, the others 
pushed the barge right against the blazing craft of Lieu- 
tenant Campbell. The living soldiers scrambled from the 
burning barge to the boat of the rescuers, the wounded 
being carried by the strong, and in spite ot the tremendous 
shooting by the Indians and the heat of the flames the one 
barge, loaded to the gunwales, glided out into the stream. 

Whooping in anger and disappointment, the savages 
leaped into the deserted boat and scalped the dead. 

The Riggs barge also escaped, later in the day, and both 
parties reached St. Louis. They were exhausted by fight- 
ing and by fatigue, but they considered themselves fortu- 
nate in being alive. 

The place of encounter was christened Campbell's Island 
and has borne the name up to this day. It is a short dis- 
tance below Hampton, Illinois. 

The regulars who were under Lieutenant Perkins at Fort 
Shelby were a portion of Major Zachary Taylor's command 
of the Seventh Infantry. When the news of the second de- 
feat, at Campbell's Island, was received at St. Louis it was 
decided to punish the Indians, and to build a fort on Rock 
Island. Major Taylor was selected to lead a force against 
this point. It was the intention to proceed above Rock 
Island some distance, and returning destroy the villages 
and com on both banks of the Mississippi clear to the 
mouth of the Rock River. 

Major Taylor, with 334 soldiers, forty of them regulars, 
set out about the middle of August from a point on the 
Illinois shore, above St. Louis, called Cape au Oris. He 



OTHER IOWA FORTS. 141 

had eight barges. When the site of Fort Madison was 
passed Indians appeared on the banks of either side, or 
crossing the river in canoes behind the expedition. The 
number of savages kept increasing, and when the boats 
reached Rock Island the sight of red coats showed the 
Americans that British regulars were helping the Indians. 
Cannon were descried. Just above Rock Island the expe- 
dition halted for the night and anchored in the shallows 
near a willow island. A fierce head wind, similar to that 
which annoyed the Campbell party, was blowing, and 
Major Taylor thought it best to wait until he could take 
counsel what to do. 

During the night Indians swam out to the island. At 
daybreak a soldier who stepped from a barge onto the sand 
was shot and killed, and in an instant the savages in the 
willows and the British cannon on the Illinois mainland 
opened a hot fire. 

Major Taylor ordered his soldiers to charge the island. 
This they did, driving the Indians helter skelter into the 
water and onto a smaller island down the stream. But the 
cannon balls were ripping through the sides of the barges, 
the Indians were crowding the second island, ready to mas- 
sacre any soldiers who might seek refuge from the artillery, 
and men on horse-back could be seen directing the opera- 
tions on the mainland. It was plain the cannoneers were 
experienced marksmen. Major Taylor called a conference 
of his officers, and retreat was determined upon. 

So a third time a baffled expedition entered St. Louis. 

Finally, in May, 1816, the fort was erected on the north 
side of the foot of Rock Island. It was named Fort Arm- 
strong, in honor of the Secretary of War. During its ex- 




142 



OTHER IOWA FORTS. 143 

istence it was a widely known structure, the white walls, 
rising high above the river, and surrounded by luxuriant 
foliage and picturesque scenery, looking like a castle. Sev- 
eral times the Indians planned to seize the fort, but on each 
occasion their schemes were frustrated. Both Keokuk and 
Black Hawk would have liked to capture the garrison. 
Long ago, having done its duty through the Black Hawk 
War and the proceedings immediately following, it was 
abandoned. Rock Island arsenal now occupies the roman- 
tic isle. 

Some Iowa forts were called *'fort" simply by courtesy. 
They were not recognized as "forts" by the government. 
Such was Fort Sanford, which stood near the place now 
named Garrison Rock, not far from Ottumwa. It consisted 
of a few log cabins formerly occupied by the American Fur 
Company, and. was occupied by a company of the First 
Dragoons from September, 1842, to the middle of May, 
1843. ''Foi"t" Sanford was termed by the War Department 
"The Sac and Fox Agency", the soldiers having been sent 
to this point to prevent squatters from intruding on the 
Indian reservation here. Captain James Allen was the com- 
manding ofificer. 



CHAPTER XIX. 

THE RUSH FOR LAND IN IOWA. 

Although June i, 1833, was the first day on which set- 
tlers could legally occupy claims in Iowa, on several occa- 
sions previous to this date whites had crossed the river 
in attempts to establish homes in what was then an Indian 
country. 

We have read of Dubuque, Lemoiliese, Gaillard, Blon- 
deau and others, but they were only traders, not cultiva- 
tors of the soil, nor intending to improve the claims ob- 
tained by them. 

Also Dr. Muir built a cabin at Keokuk, and around the 
fur trading posts clustered whites and half breeds. In 1828 
Lee County held quite a scattering of whites, engaged in 
bartering with the Indians. In the early days southeastern 
Iowa was the gateway through which the bulk of the pion- 
eers entered the State. 

The first community of whites in Iowa was at Dubuque, 
with the lead mines as the attraction. After the death of 
Dubuque the Indians were unwilling to let any one else 
settle in the vicinity or work the mines. However, in 1829 
James Langworthy, who with his brother Lucius was min- 
ing at Galena, Illinois, having heard about the Dubuque 
country, resolved to visit it. 

In the summer of 1829 he paddled over the river in his 
canoe, his pony swimming alongside the boat. He landed 
where the city of Dubuque now stands. He went to the vil- 

144 



THE RUSH FOR LAND IN IOWA. 145 

lage of the Foxes at the mouth of Catfish Creek, and asked 
permission to mine in the hills. The Indians refused to 
grant it, but allowed him to travel in the interior three 
weeks. Two young Indians guided him through the region 
lying between the Turkey and the Maquoketa Rivers. He 
secured much information, and was the first white man, 
save Dubuque, to look on this enchanting stretch of prairie 
and hill. 

Indeed, we do not know that Dubuque went so far west- 
ward from the Mississippi. 

Langworthy returned to Galena and spread the news of 
what he had seen. His friends determined not to be afraid 
of the Indians, and in the winter and the following spring of 
1830 the two Langworthys, with companions, crossed to 
the Iowa lead mines. In June many others came, so that 
there was quite a settlement. 

June 17, this year, the settlers assembled around an old 
cotton-wood log that had been cast ashore on an island and 
appointed a committee of five to draw up a form of govern- 
ment. The articles reported by the committee were 
adopted. There were only two. They represent the 
first laws for the regulation of white men in what is now 
Iowa. 

The Indians had not sold their land west of the Missis- 
sippi, and they did not like the idea of having whites 
among them. They protested to the government. Colonel 
Zachary Taylor, commanding at Prairie du Chien, ordered 
the settlers to leave the territory, and troops were sent to 
enforce the command. Soldiers were stationed here to 
protect the rights of the Indians. 

Until the land was legally opened for settlement the sol- 



146 THE MAKING OF IOWA. 

diers had their hands full keeping the whites on the eastern 
side of the river. 

A little later a similar scene was enacted near Fhnt Hills, 
the present site of Burlington. The American Fur Com- 
pany once had a post here, and among the white men con- 
nected with the business were Simpson White and Amzi D. 
Whittle. They liked the country so well that they deter- 
mined to settle there. They staked out a claim within one 
week after the treaty of 1832 between the Sacs and Foxes 
and the United States was signed. M. M. Carver was a 
third in their party. 

Others followed them, for many people supposed that as 
soon as the treaty was signed the lands were open for set- 
tlement. But soldiers were sent from Fort Armstrong, at 
Rock Island, one detachment being under Lieutenant Jef- 
ferson Davis, and expelled them from the limits. Cabins 
were destroyed and the owners were told to stay in Illinois 
or Missouri until permitted to return. 

It became necessary to patrol the river border in Iowa to 
prevent over-anxious settlers from coming in and ''squat- 
ting." Otherwise, greedy men would seize on the best 
claims before the law-abiding people arrived. Whites 
caught within the strip were obliged to give account of 
themselves, and were ordered out of the territory at once 
unless they were authorized to remain. 

Finally the Black Hawk Purchase was ready for occu- 
pancy. It had been impossible to keep all the settlers on 
the eastern side of the river, and during 1832 a number of 
claims had been taken up in portions of the strip not 
guarded by the military. But the land thus occupied cre- 
ated no ill feeling. The first rush into the Black Hawk 
Purchase did not at once use up all the tract. 



THE RUSH FOR LAND IN IOWA. 147 

In 1833 a post-office was established at Dubuque, and in 
1834 the settlers there named their community "Dubuque". 
Before it was referred to as the Lead Mines, the New Lead 
Mines, etc. Davenport was laid out in 1836; Fort Madi- 
son in 1835 ; Flint Hills, now Burlington, in 1834. More 
and more settlers came into the Black Hawk Strip, as it 
was termed. 

They sent back word to relatives and friends in Illinois, 
and in Ohio and Indiana and other States to the south- 
ward, of the rich and beautiful country awaiting the peo- 
ple. The result was that thousands of people flocked through 
Illinois to the Mississippi and crossed to find homes. The 
strip of land filled up, and when in 1836 the Indians gave 
uver the Keokuk Reserve even more room was wanted. 

In 1837 the tribes ceded additional land, bordering the 
strip on the west. In 1838 the settlers poured into this Sec- 
ond Purchase, and still looked eagerly on the region far- 
ther west. The immigration to Iowa was increasing right 
along. All through the East the marvelous 'Towa Country" 
was attracting attention. 

The Old Strip, as the area now settled was termed, was 
widened by the New Purchase. This New Purchase was 
composed of the remaining lands in Iowa to which claim 
was laid by the Sacs and Foxes. The treaty by which the 
tribes gave up the tract was made in October, 1842. This 
was the one which was agreed on at Agency City, when 
Governor Chambers, attired in a brigadier general's uni- I 
form, represented the government. 

The Indians could remain in the eastern portion of the 
territory until midnight, April 30, 1843, ^^^^ must then 
withdraw west of the longitude of Redrock, Marion Coun- 



148 THE MAKING OF IOWA. 

ty. There they could stay until midnight, October lo, 1845. 
After that they were to go to Kansas. 

As soon as the news of this New Purchase was carried 
about among the settlers, a swarm of people pressed toward 
the country about to be thrown open. Soldiers were sta- 
tioned to keep them back until the proper time for settle- 
ment arrived. 

During the last week of April the eastern border of the 
New Purchase was lined with men, women and children, 
forming the famiHes of settlers, who were all ready to race 
for the best claims, and were but awaiting the word from 
the troops. April 30 there was great excitement. The fleet- 
est horses were saddled and the swiftest runners selected, 
and everything was prepared in order to seize on the claims 
thought to be the richest. 

All day the settlers heaped up piles of dry wood, and 
when night came lighted bonfires, which would serve to 
show the way. At midnight, precisely, signal guns were 
discharged by the dragoons. At once, with shouts and 
whoops and general uproar, the people rushed across the 
boundary. They carried torches, axes and hatchets, and 
used all manner of methods calculated to lay out claims with 
the utmost speed. 

When day broke the ground far and near was covered 
with rude marks. Lines conflicted, and numerous disputes 
arose, usually to be amicably settled. When the govern- 
ment surveyor measured the lines bounding claims he 
found many needed revision. 

Between midnight and daybreak a large portion of the 
eastern part of the New Purchase was settled. 

Midnight of October 10, 1845, the Indians' rights to the 



THE RUSH FOR LAND IN IOWA. l49 

remainder of the New Purchase expired, and when the sig- 
nal was given to the settlers, scenes similar to those of the 
spring of 1843 were enacted. The settlers who had been 
camping along the border thronged in. 

By 1850 settlements were scattered over Iowa from the 
Mississippi to the Missouri. Shortly after 1839 white men 
established themselves at the site of Sioux City. In 1839 
the American Fur Co. sent one hundred men up the Mis- 
souri, on the steamer Antelope, to go to the headwaters 
of the river. They changed to Mackinaw flat boats when 
the shallows made it necessary. When the party returned 
several in the number stopped off at the site of Sioux City. 
These were traders, but formed a nucleus of a community 
that rapidly enlarged. In 1848 Floyd Bluff was settled, 
although before this, in 1836, Plymouth County and the 
valleys of the Big Sioux and the Floyd Rivers had a number 
of whites. 

Pioneers made homes in Webster County in 1846, and 
traders had preceded them. In 1846-48 Mormons settled 
where Council Bluffs is. The name then adopted was 
Kanesville. . 

Immigration to Iowa was unparalleled. In the papers 
of 1854 long accounts, full of exclamation points, are print- 
ed, telling of the vast crowds of people entering the State. 
The roads were thronged with teams, and the groves and 
woodlands and prairies were alive with figures, and white 
with tents and canvas topped wagons. Ferries over the Mis- 
sissippi were busy day and night conveying the pioneers 
from Illinois to Iowa. Cabins were going up like magic. 

Oskaloosa reports that at least a thousand persons pass 
through every week, bound westward. Three hundred 




150 



THE RUSH FOR LAND IN IOWA. 151 

buildings go up in a season at Davenport. Seven hundred 
immigrants a day travel 'over the Burlington highway. It 
is estimated that in thirty days 20,000 traverse the vicinity 
of Burlington. The boats on' the Ohio and Mississippi are 
packed. Six hundred persons go through St. Louis by 
river in a day. The trains that pull into Chicago with pas- 
sengers for the Mississippi, are double headers. In six 
days twelve thousand passengers from the East arrive in 
Chicago, destined for Iowa and the West. 

According to the estimates and census taken in 1836 the 
State contained 10,531 people; in 1840 the population was 
43,017; in 1844, 82,500; in 1850, 192,214; in 1854, 325,302; 
in 1855, 500,000. 

The earliest settlers of Iowa came from Southern Ohio, 
Indiana and Illinois, and from the northerly Southern 
States. Then followed Pennsylvanians, and Europeans 
forced out of the Old Country by political trouble. Lastly, 
New York and New England States sent their people. 

On foot, in teams, and by boat and by train, the future 
citizens of Iowa arrived at her eastern border and poured 
into their new home. 



CHAPTER XX. 

MAKING A LIVING IN EARLY IOWA. 

The settlers who Hved in Iowa during the early days 
mingled work with play, and although they had many hard 
experiences they also had many good times. Everything 
was very rude and primitive, and a great deal of what we 
to-day regard as necessities the pioneers considered as lux- 
uries. 

As there were no railroads here then, the settlers de- 
pended entirely upon horses and oxen to haul the household 
goods. The sturdy animals pulled the creaking, canvas- 
topped wagons, on which were piled the possessions of the 
family. Often these possessions were scanty enough, if 
we except the children and the feeble adults who rode on 
the load, and who were the most precious part of the prop- 
erty. The men who were able trudged alongside, or were 
on horseback. 

As soon as possible after a territory was opened up the 
government established mifitary and territorial roads, but 
before this was done the settlers had made their own high- 
ways and byways. The first roads followed the old Indian 
trails. As there were no fences the settlers drove over the 
prairie in all directions, seeking a place where a claim would 
be desirable. In the selection the good wife had a voice, 
because a cabin with water convenient, and with other mat- 
ters arranged satisfactorily, meant much to her. 

152 



MAKING A LIVING IN EARLY IOWA. 153 

When an attractive spot was reached the claim was paced 
off and staked out, or marked by blazing the trunks of 
trees. The next thing to do was to erect a shelter. Until 
a rough cabin was put up the settlers slept near the wagon. 
The women and children and the weak or aged of the men 
had the privilege of using the wagon box for protection. 
A little rain did not bother the strong and hearty. 

Sometimes a "three faced" camp was put up as tempor- 
ary shelter. This consisted of merely three walls about 
seven feet high, forming three sides of a rectangle. They 
were made of logs laid one on another. Poles were 
stretched across, about three feet apart, for the frame-work 
of the roof, and on them boards, split from logs, were laid. 
On top of all were distributed other poles, to hold the roof 
down. 

There was no floor, save dirt, no door, no chimney, no 
window. The open side answered all purposes of ventila- 
tion. Right across this side, where the fourth wall should 
be, was built a roaring log fire. 

Now the cabin was being completed. The sides were of 
logs, the spaces between "chinked" with small sticks, and 
the inside and outside daubed with clay. The roof, like 
the roof of the "three-faced" camp, was of clapboards and 
poles. 

A great fireplace, six feet or more long, was cut in one 
side, or wall. The back and sides of it were logs covered 
with clay and earth and stones. The flue was of split sticks 
like a "corncob" pile, and plastered with clay. This was a 
"cat and clay" chimney. The burning of a chimney was 
of frequent occurrence. 

The early settlers did not use nails. Little metal of any 



154 



THE MAKING OF IOWA. 



kind was to be seen in the construction of the cabins. The 
door was hung on wooden hinges. A wooden catch held 
the door shut, and through a hole a buckskin string passed, 
hanging outside. By this the catch was lifted by the per- 
son wishing to enter. No one locked his cabin, except when 
an Indian scare made a bar necessary. 




HALF COMPLETED SOD HOUSE. 



The furniture of the cabin was simple enough. The first 
beds were "one legged" beds. A stake was driven into the 
earth, or through the wooden floor, if there was a floor, 
three or four feet from one wall and six or seven from one 
end of the cabin. This was to be a corner of the bed. A 
strip extended from the stake to the wall, and another strip 



MAKING A LIVING IN EARLY IOWA. 155 

from the stake to the end logs. On this framework were 
laid other strips, and with a blanket added the bed was ready 
for occupancy. 

Over the door were suspended rifle and powder horn. 
Maybe in a corner was a loom. A rude table and a stool 
or so, a skillet or "Dutch oven", iron pot and cofifee pot 
completed the list of furnishings. The stove was the fire- 
place. Corn meal or "Indian meal", as it was called, was 
an important article of food. Mixed with water it was 
cooked in a variety of ways, to make "pone", "corn dodger" 
and "hoe cake". The grains of corn when bleached by lye 
formed "lye hominy". Pumpkin added to the corn meal 
dough gave it a rich yellow color and improved the flavor. 
Honey was abundant, and game furnished a welcome change 
from "hog meat." 

Oiled paper was used instead of glass. If the earth did 
not serve as a floor, a "puncheon" floor was laid, consisting 
of slabs hewn from logs. 

Before a crop was put in the prairie must be broken. As 
the soil had not been disturbed for centuries the grass roots 
constituted a tough mass not easily separated. When pos- 
sible a great "prairie plow" was used. This was operated 
by men who made such work their business, charging so 
much an acre. The machine was ten feet long, and cut a 
shallow furrow about twenty-four inches wide. Five or 
six yoke of oxen drew the plow. 

The earliest settlers did not have the services of a prairie 
plow. Often they planted corn by driving an axe blade into 
the earth, and dropping the seeds into the cleft thus made. 
The first crop of corn was valuable chiefly because it pre- 
pared the ground for succeeding crops. 



156 THE MAKING OF IOWA. 

Plowing- in the days of the pioneer presented an animated 
sight. Several yoke of oxen harnessed in a string were re- 
quired. The ox whip was thirty feet long, and hard to 
handle. The unskillful driver would awkwardly wind the 
lash around the neck of one of his astonished animals. The 
boy who from the plow could cut a fly from the neck of the 
*'ofif leader" was looked upon with much respect. 

After the grain was harvested it must be ground. Be- 
fore mills were set up the settler did his own grinding. The 
corn was poured into a hollow made by fire in the top of a 
stump, and was crushed by a stick with a rounded end, as a 
druggist mixes his drugs. This was "pestling" corn. Some- 
times the ears were grated on a roughened iron surface. 

For a long time mills were far apart, and the journey to 
them quite an undertaking for the settlers. Over the soft 
prairie, through muddy creeks and up and down hills the 
settler took his corn to mill, the stout oxen plodding along 
so slowly that the wife and family were left alone for many 
days and nights. 

When the mill was reached the settler was obliged to wait 
his turn. It is related that one party of settlers, grown tired 
of waiting, volunteered to run the mill at night while the 
miller slept. They ground all night, but by morning were 
enabled to start for home, with their corn reduced to meal. 

Even this meal, obtained with so much trouble, was apt 
to be dirty, full of unpalatable substances. 

Wolves threatened the stock, Indians stole horses, and 
prairie fires attacked the cabins. The winters were long 
and cold. Rainfalls were terrific. The exposure of the 
ploughed-up soil to the atmosphere caused weakening fever 
and ague, termed the "shakes". The decomposition of the 



MAKING A LIVING IN EARLY IOWA. 157 

earth under the sun gave off fumes which permeated the air, 
and in the fall of the first year of a community everybody 
was afTflicted. Not until the atmosphere cleared was relief 
experienced. The settlers had little to make them comfort- 
able. Young married couples started life in their cabin 
when they had hardly a chair or a table. 

One settler who called on a newly married pair found 
them sitting on the earthen floor of their little shack, eating 
mush out of an iron pot between them, with only one spoon 
for the two. The pot and the spoon were their sole house- 
hold property. 

Mails were few and far between. For some time postage 
was twenty-five cents a letter. If a settler was too poor 
to pay this, the good natured man who acted as postmaster 
would trust him until the sum was available. The post 
ofifi.ce was at some store, and mail was received at irregular 
intervals, according as the condition of the roads and of 
navigation assisted or hindered. Settlers rode many miles 
to get their letters. 

Soon after Governor Lucas entered upon his duties as 
chief executive of Iowa Territory, a letter was addressed 
to him, at Burlington, Iowa, by the officials at Washington. 
Evidently the people out East knew little of events on the 
Upper Mississippi, for the letter went to Burlington, New 
Jersey, was returned to Washington, was sent out, this time 
to Burlington, Vermont, and again came back to Washing- 
ton. 

The postmaster was disgusted. He wrote on the letter: 

"For heaven's sake let this letter go to some other Bur- 
lington, wherever it may be !" 

There were no envelopes in those days, and the great 



158 THE MAKING OF IOWA. 

wafer sealing the letter, with the writing of the postmaster 
under the address, caused considerable comment. If the 
governor of Iowa had such hard work to get a letter, the 
settlers stood poor show. 

Mail came weekly to Burlington. It was brought from 
the East to Indianapolis by stage coach ; thence by two- 
horse hack to Iowa. From Burlington mail was taken by 
hack to Davenport, and by horseback riders to Dubuque. 

Before Iowa was a Territory letters were addressed : 

''Iowa Postoffice, 
Black Hawk Purchase, 
Wisconsin Territory." 

The early settlers claimed land before the ground was 
actually on sale. The first land sale did not occur until 
1838. In the meantime, to protect their claims, the settlers 
in a community banded together, drew up regulations, and 
maintained what was termed "club law," or ''claim law." 

When the government opened land offices these claim 
laws were recognized as valid. 

The price of government land was $1.25 an acre. Each 
township sent to the sale a representative, who had a list 
of the claims settled upon in the area advertised. He bid 
in for each settler. 

If a speculator or "land grabber" in the crowd attempted 
to oppose the rightful claimant matters went hard with him, 
and forced him to retire from the vicinity. A "land-grab- 
ber" was hated, being looked upon as one who would rob 
the settlers of their hard earned claims. 

Money lenders, also, mingled with the settlers. Capital- 
ists saw a chance to do a fine business by lending to the 



MAKING A LIVING IN EARLY IOWA. 159 

settlers cash with which land could be purchased. Fifty 
per cent interest was not unusual ; sometimes the rate was 
even higher than that. If the settler could not pay the 
debt, and the interest, he lost his property. This interest 
was outrageous, but the settlers were so hard-up that they 
were obliged to accept the terms, or nothing. 

When the first land sale occurred at Burlington in 1838 
silver coin was transferred across the river in row boats, 
loading them to the gunwales, and was loaned to the settlers. 

The money panic of 1837 told severely on the settlers 
for several years following. It was difificult to dispose of 
produce even after a good crop. Wheat was hauled one 
hundred miles and sold for only 37^ cents a bushel, corn 
and oats for only 6 to 10 cents, and the best horses for $50. 



CHAPTER XXI. 



LIFE AMONG THE SETTLERS. 



Although the pioneer settlers of Iowa were exposed to 
many perils and much suffering, as a rule men, women and 
children were a light hearted set. Their frolics began with 
the building of the cabin, and were continued whenever an 
occasion was presented. 

When the new-comer was ready to put up his cabin, he 
invited all his neighbors to assist. Neighbors meant any- 
body he or his friends knew. "House raisin' " was regard- 
ed as great fun. Before the day appointed the host had his 
logs cut and notched, ready to be laid in place. The early 
cabins were built from round logs with the bark on. Soon 
it was considered a mark of elegance to chip a place along 
two sides of each log. The next step was to hew what 
would be the inside and outside of the cabin walls, so as 
to present a flat surface. 

The crowd who assisted at a "house raisin' " was enter- 
tained wdth plenty of food and drink, and joking and general 
merry-making prevailed. 

Weddings also were the signal for much fun. The inti- 
mate friends of the groom called at his father's house, and 
on foot, on horseback and in wagons escorted the young 
man to the home of the bride. Usually there were not 
enough seats, and the girls sat on the laps of the men, or of 
other girls. Kissing games were favorites. 

Young men went long distances to call upon the girls. 
When a girl was engaged to a man it was sometimes said 

160 



LIFE AMONG THE SETTLERS. 161 

she was "bespoke", or "promised". When the swain ar- 
rived at the cabin of the girl with whom he was in love, if 
the father asked him to stay all night and to put his horse 
in the barn, it was a sign the caller was not a favored wooer. 
If he was not invited to put up his horse, he was glad, and 
frequently extended his call until four o'clock in the morn- 
ing. 

One young man in Iowa went courting just over the 
border into Missouri. He had provisions in his saddle bags 
for the trip, and started from his home at night so as to 
escape observation. He was so bashful that when the girl 
and her parents sat at the table for dinner, he refused to 
join them. He said : 

"Oh, I've got a bite here." 

Then he went into a dark corner, and gnawed on a piece 
of bacon he took from his saddle-bags. It is not remarkable 
that he did not get the girl. 

Another bashful young man was engaged to an equally 
bashful girl. It was given out that they were to be mar- 
ried on a certain evening. The neighborhood gathered 
at the cabin. The minister was there. The spectators were 
ranged along the sides of the room. Everybody waited, and 
silence reigned except when a snicker was heard. All of 
a sudden the groom desperately leaped into the clear spot 
in the middle of the room, nodded at the girl, and shouted : 

"Come on, if you want to !" 

The girl blushingly came forward, and the minister pro- 
nounced the usual words. 

Some couples who desired to be married were obliged to 
seek a justice of the peace. Ministers were not easily com- 
municated with in the early days. The couple on horse- 



162 



THE MAKING OF IOWA. 




PRAIRIE CHICKENS. 



LIFE AMONG THE SETTLERS. 163 

back rode to the justice, the girl behind the man, clasping 
him around the waist if the way was rough. The justice 
fee was whatever the couple had brought. 

Ouiltings, wood choppings, turkey shootings, horse rac- 
ing and foot racing were popular amusements. Physical 
strength was apt to be a standard of a man. Vicious fights 
resulted from the boasts of some strapping settler that he 
was the ''best man" around. When he was "licked" he 
ceased to be a champion. 

As many of the first settlers were from the South, south- 
ern customs prevailed in some sections of Iowa, particularly 
in the southern districts of the eastern half. 

Dancing was a diversion that wound up most of the 
festivities. "Guilmah", "Stump Tail Dog", etc., were well- 
known tunes. Reels, square dances and jigs 'were the favor- 
ite figures. In jigs "cutting out" was thought excehent 
fun. The musician struck up a lively time, some individual 
or some couple took the floor, and danced until exhausted, 
when a fresh person or couple stepped in. Rivals would 
enter into a contest to see who could dance the longest and 
with the greatest variety of steps. 

In cards a favorite game was "bragg". 
The early settlers in Iowa, as well as in other Territories, 
drank a great deal of liquor. On the way to weddings, 
house raisings, and other gatherings, the bottle was passed 
liberally, and was used frequently during the ensuing pro- 
gram. With the advance of civilization the custom became 
less prevalent. 

What splendid hunting and fishing the Iowa pioneers 
had ! The waters and the hills and prairies were swarming 
with game. Buffalo did not survive the advent of the set- 



164 THE MAKING OF IOWA. 

tier, but the elk, deer and bear, the wild turkey, the prairie 
chicken and the quail were shot in great numbers. When 
a deer was killed it might be taken to the cabin, or to town, 
tied to the horse's tail and dragged behind. Venison formed 
a common article of diet. 

A Davenport citizen of 1844 agreed to buy a catfish from 
a fisherman. When he was asked by the seller to come to 
the levee and get the fish he remonstrated a little, until he 
found the purchase was too large to be taken into the boat, 
and weighed 105 pounds ! 

Early settlers kept a sharp lookout for snakes and wolves. 
Wolf hunts were of frequent occurrence. A Keokuk settler 
killed 225 rattlers in one day. Persons entering a swamp 
found it convenient to have in one hand a knife for the 
wolves, and in the other a club for the reptiles. 

Bees were a blessing to the settler, because of the honey 
they furnished. Southeastern Iowa was especially rich in 
honey timber. Settlers collected honey in barrels, and used 
it liberally. It took the place of sugar. The woods border- 
ing the Skunk were celebrated for their bee trees. In 1835 
John Huff and a companion penetrated above where Rome, 
Henry County, is located. Near here was a trading post 
kept by William McPherson. The two adventurous men 
collected 120 gallons of honey, which filled three barrels 
made by them. They set out on their road to Illinois, to 
dispose of the honey, but when descending the Skunk — the 
first white men to attempt the trip — their rude dug-outs 
were capsized by a sunken log. Then Huff walked to Flint 
Hills (Burlington), procured shoes and returned to dive for 
the honey. 

When the barrels were brought to the surface, the two 



LIFE AMONG THE SETTLERS. 



165 




0) 




166 THE MAKING OF lOWA. 

men continued on their voyage, and finally sold their stock 
for fifty cents a gallon. 

The Indians and the settlers mingled in a friendly way. 
The quarrels that occurred might have been expected in 
any community. The Indians even entertained favored 
whites, and when a settler received a painted stick he knew 
it was an invitation to a feast — probably of stewed dog. 

The Indians were about as shrewd, individually, as were 
the settlers. In 1836 the American Fur Co. had a trading 
post on the Wapsipinicon River, in Clinton County. Judge 
Ingals, of St. Louis, tried to cross the stream, but became 
exhausted. Some white men on the bank besought an In- 
dian, who could swim, to rescue the Judge. But the Indian 
simply ran up and down as though confused, until the Judge 
had sunk for the last time. Then he plunged in and brought 
the unconscious man to shore. 

"When white man live he drown Indian ; when dead, In- 
dian bring him out easy," explained the Fox. 

However, the Judge was revived. 

Once a white man named Adams visited the trading post 
at lowaville. His was a hard name for the Indians to pro- 
nounce. When he removed his hat to wipe the perspiration 
from his brow Keokuk observed he was bald. 

"Mus-ke-tack — prairie head !" grunted Keokuk. There- 
after Mr. Adams was called by all Mus-ke-tack. 

The settlers' cabins were always open to the traveler. 
Guests slept on the floor, before the fireplace, and when the 
cabin had a loft room was offered there, also. If a price was 
charged for entertainment, a meal of corn bread, milk, but- 
ter, honey, wheat cofTee, crab apple butter, turkey and veni- 
son cost the guest twelve cents. 



LIFE AMONG THE SETTLERS. 167 

Rough traverns appeared at cross roads, and in settle- 
ments. Accommodations were simple, indeed. The floor 
was considered a good bed. A traveler from the East asked 
an Iowa landlord for a place in which to wash. 

*'Have you a handkerchief?" inquired the landlord. 

"Yes, certainly." 

"Well, friend, there's the river. Wash, and wipe on your 
handkerchief." 

Iowa, a beautiful State to-day, was more beautiful when 
the settlers first saw it. The prairies were rounded and 
swelling, fringed by heavy timber. In the spring the grass 
was a tender green, and covered with flowers. The groves 
were rich in blossoming rosewood, dogwood, crab apple, 
wild cherry and wild plum. The wild rose was abundant. 
In the summer the prairies were like a sea, the tall coarse 
grass, dried to a golden hue, waving in the wind. The early 
flowers were low like the violet and strawberry, but as the 
year advanced they became gaudy, on long stems which 
bore them to a level with the thick grass. 

Iowa was celebrated for its natural attractions, and the 
pioneers sincerely loved their new home. 

Settlers dressed just as they could. Until general stores 
were at hand, clothing was home made. The garments 
brought from the old home to the new by the immigrants 
were made to last a long time. The family that possessed a 
loom was deemed fortunate, and ability to weave jeans was 
ranked far ahead of piano playing. 

Wolf skin, raccoon skin, and other fur were popular for 
caps for the men. Wool, hats also were favored. The 
women wore calico sunbonnets or quilted hoods. Jeans 
cloth was dyed in the bark of the black walnut, or might not 



168 THE MAKING OF IOWA. 

be dyed at all. Pantaloons were held up by knit "galluses", 
drawn tight. The coat might be a blouse, with straps sewed 
to the back so that they could be buttoned in the middle, 
as a half belt. 

Sometimes the pantaloons had a double front the outer 
layer of which buttoned at the side, and would fail over like 
a flap. 

In summer, clothing was more simple than in winter. 
Children wore only a long shirt of tow linen. 

Of course clothing depended on the condition of the 
family, and as the majority of the settlers were very poor 
many make-shifts were resorted to. When mills were estab- 
lished within reach, the settlers exchanged the raw wool for 
finished cloth. 

In Iowa's early days of settlement money was extremely 
scarce. Buying and selling were carried on with furs, prod- 
uce, and other articles as the circulating medium. 

For many years after coin became fairly plentiful, the 
cent was not tolerated as currency, and even the three cent 
piece was rarely seen. 

The title "Hawkeye" came into use soOn after Iowa Terri- 
tory was organized. The Territorial officers and some 
prominent citizens of Burlington were accustomed to meet 
in the parlor of the Burlington House, to chat and talk over 
various questions of the hour. Naturally a nickname for the 
people of the new district came up as a topic for debate. 
James G. Edwards, editor of the Patriot, suggested '*Hawk- 
eye". The name was endorsed at once, Eastern papers pub- 
lished the action taken by the informal meeting, and the ap- 
pellation stuck. 

The Patriot is now the Burlington Hawkeye. Edwards 
became known as "Old Hawk." 



CHAPTER XXIL 

TEACHERS AND PREACHERS. 

Even before Iowa was given over to settlers there were 
schools at which the children of the few whites then within 
the borders of the present State were educated. Away back 
in 1830 Berryman Jennings had a school at Ah-wi-pe-tuck 
(beginning- of the Rapids), about where Galland now is, and 
I. K. Robinson taught at Puck-e-she-tuck (Foot of the 
Rapids), wdiere Keokuk stands. 

The school at Ah-wi-pe-tuck was the first school in Iowa 
of which we have authentic data. It is said a soldier in old 
Fort Madison gave instruction to some children, white and 
half-breed, whose fathers were trappers and traders and 
men employed in the garrison. But Berryman Jennings 
may be called Iowa's first school teacher. He was a Ken- 
tuckian, about twenty-three years old. School was held 
through October, November and December, 1830, and was 
attended by eight or ten children. 

The building was a small log cabin, which had been 
erected for a dweUing place. It was on the river bank, with 
a narrow creek flowing along one side. Behind it were tree 
stumps, forming a small clearing in the midst of the forest 
The cabin had two windows covered with oiled paper ; a 
door opened onto the river side. 

When the pupils trudged between school and home they 
were apt to encounter wolves, bears, or a wild cat, and were 
pretty sure to see deer and wild turkeys and grouse. In- 

169 




170 



TEACHERS AND PREACHERS. 171 

dians were on hand constantly. The school children of 1830 
had strange playfellows. 

The school at Puck-e-she-tuck opened two months after 
the one at Ah-wi-pe-tiick. Robinson began teaching on 
December i, 1830, and did not close the term until weU into 
the spring of 1831. When he was not teaching he was in 
the employ of a Mr. Stillwell, who kept a woodyard and 
warehouse nearby. 

Other pioneer school teachers were George Cubbage, 
who taught at Dubuque in the winter of 1833-34, and Bar- 
rett Whittemore, who was there a few months later. 

Then there was Zadoc C. Inghram, who in 1834 con- 
ducted a school at Shok-ko-kon, or Flint Hills, now Bur- 
lington. Here, in December, 1833, Dr. W. R. Ross had 
erected the first regular schoolhouse in what is now Iowa. 
Zadoc Inghram was given board free by Dr. Ross, and in- 
structed the scholars in the log school house. 

About this time there lived on a farm one and one-half 
miles from Fort Madison, on the stage route to Burlington 
(then Flint Hills), Mrs. Rebecca Palmer, who in the winter 
of 1834-35 taught school in a log building a mile and a half 
away. She walked through the snow and sleet, back and 
forth, in spite of the most severe weather, and in spring wore 
rubber boots. 

Plucky Mrs. Palmer was the first woman teacher in Iowa. 

Schools of those days, and during all of what may be 
called the ''settlement period" of Iowa's history, were but in 
accord with the roughness of the surroundings. The build- 
ings themselves were only simple log cabins, sometimes de- 
signed for houses, sometimes built especially for the pur- 
pose of education. 




BERRYMAN JENNINGS (Who Taught at Ah-wi-pe-tuck) . 

172 



TEACHERS AND PREACHERS. 173 

Sometimes they had a window on two sides. Sometimes 
on but one side, and made by taking out a log and cover- 
ing the hole with the oiled paper. The floor might be the 
earth. 

Otherwise a puncheon floor was laid down. The door 
was puncheon, and there were puncheon benches as long as 
the log from which they were cut. Writing desks or 
benches were constructed like the seats, save their tops 
slanted. A great fire place stretched across one end of the 
building and the pupils helped the school master bring in 
logs for fuel. 

The teacher or ''master" sat on a platform. Maybe he 
would be awarded one of the few splint bottomed chairs 
in the settlement. 

As the settlers were from various points, the books they 
brought with them differed in author and in style. The 
children were required to carry to the school whatever 
books were available, for text books, and consequently 
hardly any two volumes used in the school were alike. If a 
scholar had no other book which could be used for the pur- 
pose he was taught to read from the Old and New Testa- 
ment. The Bible was the one book found in the majority 
of the homes of the settlers. 

The branches taught were reading, writing, arithmetic, 
grammar, spelling and geography. "Lickin' and larnin','' 
one settler called the course in the nearby school. Spelling 
was considered most important, and was the most popular 
because of the spelling matches. To "spell down" a whole 
room was a high honor to wan. 

Classes were little observed. Each scholar went ahead as 
fast as he could, alone, and when he was far enough along 



174 THE MAKING OF IOWA. 

he was given harder books. When he found a sum he 
could not work he called to the teacher for help. Much of 
the teacher's time was taken up in setting copies for the 
lesson in writing, and in mending quill pens. 

Drill in reading was somewhat on this plan. The teacher 
would say : 

''Read up loud enough for me to hear you at the other 
end of the room. Count one for comma, two for semi- 
colon, three for colon, and four for period." 

Often the class would be left to read away by itself for ten 
minutes while the teacher worked a sum for somebody. 

Some teachers were men of fine education ; others were 
but ignoramuses, who held their position because they were 
able to thrash the school into subjection. It was an ad- 
vantage to a teacher to prove himself superior physically 
to his pupils. In the room might be boys as large and as 
strong as men, who thought it sport to force him to give up 
his work because he could not manage them. They would 
try to "turn the master out," and he must show them that 
they could not do it. 

It was necessary for the teacher to foster good feeling 
and respect by joining in the games at recess and at noon. 
If he could run faster, jump farther, and throw a snow ball 
straighter than the stout healthy boys with whom he asso- 
ciated they liked him the better. 

The teacher "boarded round." One week one family 
would entertain the teacher of the district, and for the next 
week another family would board and lodge him. The good 
wife put the cabin to rights and the children "slicked up" 
for the occasion. If the teacher was a religious man he 
was requested to ask the blessing, and to lead in prayer. 



TEACHERS AND PREACHERS. 175 

The hardest sums that could be found were presented for 
him to work, if he could. 

The women teachers "boarded round" just as did the men. 
Among the settlers were well educated girls, farmers' 
daughters who had time to teach, and in all kinds of weather 
they were faithful to their duty. 

The pay of teachers varied, but never was high. In the 
earliest schools a dollar a term for each pupil was charged. 
Settlers desirous of educating their children paid in mer- 
chandise or services, if money was lacking. 

As the number of settlers increased, the demand for 
teachers increased, also. Many were imported from the 
East. The Cincinnati Atlas of October i, 1853, announced 1 
that Governor Slade, of Vermont, had left New York with 
thirteen young ladies designed for school teachers in Iowa, 
Tennessee and Missouri, and stated that this was the second I 
party of New England teachers brought out for distribu- J 
tion among these States. 

When settlers formed a community one of the first things 
they did was to afford educationa.1 facilities for the children. 
A teacher was obtained, and the heads of the families made 
up a sum for the establishment and maintenance of a school. 
A central location for the building was chosen. Labor and 
expense were divided equally among the settlers. 

While on the topic of the early schools of Iowa the old 
Howe Academy must not be overlooked. This was pre- 
sided over by Professor Samuel L. Howe. He first visited 
Iowa in 1839, and was so impressed with the beauties of the 
land that when he returned to his home and family in Ohio 
he had resolved to move to the new country. 

At Lancaster, Ohio, Mr. Howe was conducting an acad- 



176 THE MAKING OF IOWA. 

emy which was attended by W. T. Sherman, afterwards 
General, and his brother, John Sherman, among other boys. 
It was a famous school. But Mr. Howe loaded his family 
and his household goods into two-horse wagons, and 
through Ohio, over the corduroy roads of Indiana, and 
across Illinois the emigrants took their way. 

Late in November, 1841, the Howes located in Henry 
County, not far from the present city of Mt. Pleasant. In 
the winter Mr. Howe began teaching in a little log cabin. 
In this prairie academy studied a number of men who after- 
wards became prominent in Iowa's history. 

In 1843 tl^^ academy was removed to Mt. Pleasant. The 
only room available was in the upper story of an old log jail. 
Here the academy was reopened, and over the grated cell 
where the prisoners were confined the lads and lasses pro- 
gressed under the guidance of the kindly professor. 

In 1844 the academy was changed to the Cumberland 
Presbyterian Church, and at last, in 1845, it entered a build- 
ing of its own. 

Howe Academy was known as the Mt. Pleasant High 
School and Female Academy. In point of long service it is 
the patriarch of Iowa schools. Many pupils who attended it 
when it was but a log cabin, or in a jail, later became great 
and useful men and women, and the lists of scholars show 
many names destined to be well known later, not only in 
Iowa, but all over the United States. 

While schools were shaping the minds of the young set- 
tlers in Iowa, morals also were not neglected. The school 
and the church went hand in hand, for it often happened 
that the one building was a school on week days and a 
church on Sundays. 



TEACHERS AND PREACHERS. 177 

Before a minister was available the settlers were accus- 
tomed to gather on Sunday at some cabin, to hear the Bible 
read, and to join in prayer. These meetings were led by 
some member of the company. 

"Circuit riders" were prominent among the preachers of 
Iowa's pioneer days. They were traveling ministers, who 
rode through the country attending to the needs of the peo- 
ple. Through heat and cold and storm these noble men 
journeyed, on horseback, all their personal belongings in 
the saddle bags strapped behind them. Their coming into a 
community, or to a cabin, was a signal for all the unbaptized 
children of the vicinity to be brought up for the ceremony. 
The settlers were rejoiced over the opportunity to have the 
services of a preacher. Incidentally, these "circuit riders" 
bore considerable news, gathered on their route. 

The income of the Iowa pioneer ministers of the gospel 
was not large. It depended on the means of the inhabitants. 
Often it was not much beyond board and lodging, and the 
pleasure of doing one's duty. One preacher received in six 
years less than $ioo from his circuit. The preachers of the 
day not only instructed in religion, but administered to the 
body, for they were expected to give advice in illness. 

To the Roman Catholic Church must be given the credit 
of having the first missionary in the Iowa field, for Father 
Marquette, descending the Mississippi in 1673, landed in 
Lee County. That the Roman Catholic religion was early in 
Iowa, is proved by the cross found in Jefiferson County. 
When the first whites entered that section, on the face of a 
high sand-stone cliff over Cedar Creek, about four miles 
west of where Fairfield now stands, thev saw an iron cross, 
bolted fast to the rock. 



178 THE MAKING OF IOWA. 

Tradition has it that long, long ago a Jesuit mission occu- 
pied a place among the Indians on the Des Moines River, 
not far from this spot. 

It will be remembered that the old barracks at Council 
Bluffs were utilized by priests who had been dwelling with 
the Indians. Elsewhere, as well, in Iowa,^from the earliest 
times this church has been represented in Indian mission 
work. 

From 1828 to 1833 pi'iests from Detroit, Indiana and St. 
Louis visited the territory now forming Iowa, and adminis- 
tered to the few whites and the other residents of the area. 




^ y^^^^t::.^^€<f. I^-«^ ^2^^....,^,^.^^^.^ 




SIGNATURE OF BISHOP LORAS. 

In 1833 Samuel Mazzuchelli, a friar of the order of St. Do- 
minic, was stationed at Dubuque. 

Friar Mazzuchelli labored faithfully to organize his 
charge, and when in 1837 Dubuque diocese was created the 
results of his toil were apparent. Mathias Loras was ap- 
pointed bishop — first bishop of Dubuque. This diocese of 
Dubuque reached from Missouri to Canada, and from the 
Mississippi to the Missouri. For a time it included the pres- 
ent State of Wisconsin, and Northwestern Illinois. Bishop 
Loras spent two years preparing for his work. When he 
arrived at Dubuque, soon after Easter, 1839, Iowa had three 
Roman Catholic Churches — St. James Chapel, in Lee Coun- 
ty, the combination school, church and dwelling of St. An- 




MATHIAS L,ORAS (First Bishop of Dubuque). 
179 



180 THE MAKING OF IOWA. 

thony at Davenport, and the Church of St. Raphael at Du- 
buque. Bishop Loras had a large field, but he worked so 
untiringly and bravely that he wrought wonders. 

The religious denominations were rivals in seeing which 
could accomplish the most good. On one occasion a Pres- 
byterian missionary entered a lonely cabin on the prairie. 
He was asked to hold a service, and turned to the woman 
of the family for a hymnal. 

''We have a hymnal, but it's only a Methodist hymnal," 
she said, doubtfully. 

'That makes no difference. Bring it out," he repHed. 

After singing, he inquired, jokingly : 

"Now, have you a Methodist Bible?" 

The woman laughed. She realized that the Lord's work 
is not confined to any one sect. 

When a settlement was large enough, it obtained a 
preacher of its own, who of^ciated in the school house until 
a church was erected. When a church was about to be 
built subscription papers were circulated to raise the means 
of meeting expenses. Money was scarce, and the settlers 
who could not pay in coin contributed merchandise. The 
men who were employed on the church accepted provisions 
and clothing, if they could not get money. 

One minister who was energetic ascertained that the car- 
penter would be unable to finish the church within a certain 
time, because he was teaching school for a living and must 
attend to this duty. The minister volunteered to teach the 
school while the church was being put up. The carpenter 
agreed, and the church was soon erected. 

People drove to church behind oxen, if horses were not 
procurable and the distance was too far for walking. In 



TEACHERS AND PREACHERS. 181 

funeral processions many of the vehicles were drawn by 
oxen. 

A famous church incident in early Iowa was that con- 
nected with "Hummer's bell". "Hummer's bell" was one of 
the first, if not the first, church bell to ring in Iowa. It 
was installed in the belfry of the First Presbyterian Church 
at Iowa City, and the citizens were extremely proud of it. 
But the Rev. Michael Hummer and his people had a dis- 
agreement, and the pastor was convinced that he should take 
the bell as portion of back salary. 

So one day in 1848 he climbed into the interior of the 
belfry, and had lowered the bell to a friend who stood at the 
foot of the ladder, when suddenly a number of citizens ap- 
peared, bore away the ladder and drove off with the bell in 
the wagon, leaving Mr. Hummer a prisoner in the belfry. 

He shook his fist and called in a manner that showed he 
was boiling with anger. But the crowd laughed at him and 
he was abandoned, to descend as best he could. 

The whereabouts of the bell remained a secret a long time. 
Then the old church relic turned up in Salt Lake City, in the 
possession of the Mormons. It had been buried on the Iowa 
River, and a Mormon sympathizer had dug it up and con- 
veyed it away by stealth. 

"Hummer's bell" has formed the basis for a number of 
poems and humorous sketches. 



CHAPTER XXIII. 



LAW AND MEDICINE. 



It must be remembered that after 1820, to 1834 what is 
now Iowa practically had no laws at all. When the murder 
in the Dubuque mining camp occurred the settlers were 
obliged to form a court of their own to consider the case. 
Even after Iowa was attached to the Territory of Michigan 
the laws in force west of the Mississippi, or in the Iowa Dis- 
trict, were home-made laws, so to speak, made by the set- 
tlers to suit their life. Until Iowa became a Territory, in 
1838, the law of the people was largely the law of the land. 

Settlers of townships organized among themselves, chose 
a tribunal or committee to consider the disputes, and guard- 
ed each other's interests against the machinations of out- 
siders and sharpers. 

Courts held in Iowa before Territorial organization separ- 
ate from that of Wisconsin was secured were few and far 
between. The convention which met at Burlington in No- 
vember, 1837, to consider the question of independence, 
drew up a memorial for Congress. In this it was stated 
that while the district was attached to Michigan from June, 
1834, to July, 1836, only two terms of court, a county court, 
had been held in each of the two counties. And that all 
Western Wisconsin, for the period of sixteen months, had 
had but one session of judicial relief. 

No wonder the settlers made their own laws ! 

182 



LAW AND MEDICINE. 183 

There is some record of a court held in BurHngton in 
April, 1835. In the spring of 1837 Judge David Erwin held 
a term of court for Western Wisconsin, and in the spring of 
1838 the Hon. Charles Dunn, who, with Judge Erwin, then 
composed two of the three judges assigned to Wisconsin 
Territory, held court at Prairie la Porte, in the newly organ- 
ized County of Clayton. 

It is to be regretted that but slight report of the pro- 
ceedings of these early courts has come to us for our inspec- 
tion. The country was rude. The people were rough. The 
court scenes must have been amusing. Undoubtedly they 
were picturesque. 

In July, 1838, Iowa Territory was organized. Charles 
Mason, Joseph Williams and T. S. Wilson were appointed 
district judges. 

They also were to constitute a supreme court, meeting 
together for the purpose of correcting errors that might 
have been committed by them in their respective circuits. 
These three men, who were Iowa Territory's first judges, 
deserve to be remembered. They were learned, high- 
minded and eminent in their profession. Judge Mason was 
a West Point graduate.. 

The first court of the Territory was held by Judge Wil- 
son in November, 1838, at Prairie la Porte, Clayton County. 
Prairie la Porte is now Guttenburg. The settlement then 
contained only three houses, which were log cabins. Delhi 
was another scene of an early court. The people who at- 
tended court dined out of their wagons, the judge doing as 
did the rest. The court-house at Delhi was a one-story log 
cabin on the bank of the lake. The jury met in the loft 
above the main room of the cabin. The floor of the loft was 



184 THE MAKING OF IOWA. 

of loose boards, and when the jurors walked about the judge, 
sitting below, expected every moment that somebody would 
fall through upon him. 

The grand jury held its sessions in a grove near by. The 
foreman sat on a stump. A man who was held to answer a 
criminal charge tried to crawl through the long grass, to 
hear what the jury was saying about his case, so that if it 
was going hard with him he might make his escape ; but 
he was discovered and hustled away, out of earshot. 

In Territorial days, and even thereafter, in newly set- 
tled communities, court was held in whatever building was 
most available. It was liable to be a school house or a 
grocery store. A grocery store-room constituted the first 
court-house in Jackson County. This court was held in 
Bellevue. Although the store-room was not occupied by 
the grocer, he intended to move in soon and use it as a 
dwelling house. In the meantime some of his supplies were 
placed there, for keeping. In order to provide space for the 
judge, a hogshead of molasses was rolled against the wall, 
and set on end. One of the attorneys named James Grant 
had such a powerful voice that when he began to speak all 
the people who had been sitting in the shade of the trees, 
in front of the building, made a rush for the interior, think- 
ing that a fight was in progress. 

The court bailiff's name was Peterson. He was only 
about five feet high, and was very broad and squat. His 
legs were so short that he was lost in the throng. He 
called : 

"Silence !" 

No one paid any attention to him. 

"Silence !" again shouted Peterson. 



LAW AND MEDICINE. 185 

The men still pressed forward, and great uproar con- 
tinued. 

Then the bailiff thought of a scheme. He saw the molasses 
barrel, standing on end, and he hopped upon it. 

''Silence !" he yelled. To emphasis the word he raised 
himself on tiptoe — and the head of the barrel gave way. 
Into the molasses, up to his chin, sank Bailiff Peterson. 
The court suspended proceedings until the bailiff had been 
taken to the river and washed. 

Indians were frequent attendants at court, and figured in 
many of the cases. Their sense of justice was keen, but 
their reasoning was odd. Once this same Grant (afterwards 
Judge Grant) and Judge Samuel Murdock defended an In- 
dian boy accused of killing a liquor dealer in the Winne- 
bago reservation. When the Indians met to consider the 
amount that should be paid the lawyers for services, an old 
chief arose and said : 

'T was present at the trial. I heard all the talk, but I 
did not understand a word. I suppose the talking was 
good. The little man talked the loudest, and according to 
my opinion he ought to have the most pay." 

Judge Murdock had done the major part of the work in 
tiie trial, and had displayed great ability, but "the little 
man". Grant, received an extra $ico because of his loud 
voice ! 

One time, when court was being held at Garnavillo, in 
Clayton County, a stranger entered the travern where a 
large crowd awaited dinner. He asked for lodging. He 
was seven feet tall, and attracted so much attention that the 
people decided to find out who he was. 

Frontier residents did not stop for introductions, but 



186 THE MAKING OF IOWA. 

rather enjoyed being blunt and straightforward. So on this 
occasion the smallest man in the room was hoisted onto 
the shoulders of five other men, until his face was on a 
level with the face of the stranger. The little man then said : 

"Sir, I have come as a committee to ask you who you are, 
where you live, what business you have here, and from 
what breed of men you got those long legs." 

The stranger smiled good-naturedly and answered : 

"Sir, my name is Hutchinson, I reside in Iowa County, I 
am goins;' to Fort Atkinson, and I got my long legs from 
Grandfather Long Shanks." 

Supreme court was first held at Burlington ; afterwards at 
Iowa City. The judges who went from Dubuque to Bur- 
lington traveled by river when the weather permitted ; in 
winter they journeyed on horseback. The trip took five 
days. 

The supreme court-room at Burlington was a travern. 
It is related that a man accused of stealing a rifle was ac- 
quitted, whereupon he promptly seized the weapon, which 
had been leaning against the wall, and made ofT with it. 
His lawyer was furious, because this gun was to have been 
the fee ! 

The judges, attorneys and other persons attending the 
early courts were given but poor accommodations. Some 
slept in wagons ; some on the ground. Indoors, hay spread 
on the floor of travern or cabin was the bed of the majority. 
This hay was apt to be swarming with fleas ! 

What actual beds there were, were well crowded. One 
young lawyer, fresh from the East, was horrified to see his 
bed-fellow, a stranger, pull from beneath his coat a long 
bowie-knife, and tuck it under his pillow. 



LAW AND MEDICINE, 187 

In default of other design county clerks were instructed 
to use the eagle side of a half dollar as their seal. 

The early settlers were largely their own physicians. Dis- 
tances were so great that by necessity the pioneers learned 
to care for their minor ailments. The mother prepared doses 
of "simples," made from plants perhaps growing right at 
hand. If the case required more skillful services father or 
the eldest boy saddled up a horse from the plow and rode 
with all speed for the nearest physician. Forty miles at a 
stretch would be covered, through the night and storm, 
through mud and angry creek, until the doctor's cabin or 
boarding place was reached. Then he would hasten to the 
patient, the messenger guiding him, for another forty miles. 

The doctor's fee might by small, indeed, but the old 
physicians did not refuse attendance on this account. The 
settler paid what he was able ; if not in money, in whatever 
else the doctor would accept. 

Calls were made on horseback. Among the possessions 
of an old-time doctor were great ''pill-bags," containing the 
mixtures popular in the days when used. Like the country 
doctor of the present, the physicians who attended the set- 
tlers were dentists as. well as medical practitioners. For 
pulling teeth the "turnkey" was widely known. It was an 
enormous, unwieldly instrument, but when it once grasped a 
tooth tliat tooth came out. Settlers asserted that a "turn- 
key" would extract a stump from a field. 

Among the early physicians were a number of ignorant, 
but shrewd men, who has prestige because of their knowl- 
edge of human nature, and because of their claims to an un- 
derstanding of the properties of roots and leaves. These 
were the "botanic" doctors. One old chap said : 



188 THE MAKING OF IOWA. 

*'I can't write, but I can read writin', an' I can sign my 
name." 

He was satisfied with this. 

The Indians knew a great deal — more than the whites — 
about the uses of plants, and had at their command a host 
of other remedies, as effective as simple. 'Tndian doctors" 
were much in demand by isolated pioneers, and even were 
preferred by some people to regular physicians. 

In speaking of the professions early represented in this 
section, mention must be made ot the Dubuque Visitor, the 
first newspaper of what is now Iowa. The Dubuque Visitor 
was started in May, 1836, with John King as publisher. 
King was not a practical printer, and selected Andrew Kee- 
secker to do the mechanical work. Keesecker became one 
of the most famous printers Iowa has produced. He was 
a fast compositor, but stuttered badly in his speech. 

Keesecker and a fellow printer named Wood entered into 
a contest to see which could set up the Lord's prayer the 
quicker. The *'amen" at the end was to be pronounced 
audibly, as a sign that the prayer had been completed. Wood 
pronounced the word first. Keesecker said, indignantly : 

"That's wh-what I've b-b-been tryin' t-to say this h-h-half 
hour!" 



CHAPTER XXIV. 

LOCATING A CAPITAL. 

Burlington was the first capital of Iowa Territory. Not 
until nearly twenty years had passed was the seat of gov- 
ernment located at Des Moines, the present site. The capi- 
tal moved westward by degrees, being for some years at 
Iowa City. 

Burlington has twice been a capital. When Wisconsin 
Territory, which included what is now Iowa, was organized, 
in 1836, its Legislature met at Belmont, a small town which 
would now be in the State of Wisconsin. The question of a 
permanent capital came up for discussion. 

Some members of the Legislature were of the opinion 
that the Territorial limits of 1836 would not be changed for 
many years, and that, therefore, the capital should be located 
about midway between Lake Michigan and the Missouri 
River. This would be on the banks of the Mississippi. 
With a view of capturing the seat ol government the town 
of Cassville was platted, on the east side of the Mississippi, 
about twentv-five miles below Prairie du Chien. 

Others in the Legislature believed that with the increasing 
population Wisconsin Territory soon would be divided, and 
new Territories made. The Mississippi River would be the 
natural division. So these men thought the capital of Wis- 
consin should be located near what would be the middle of a 
new Wisconsin Territory. 

Dubuque, Bellevue and Peru were the towns on the banks 

189 



190 THE MAKING OF IOWA. 

of the Mississippi seeking the honor of being chosen capi- 
tal ; Madison, now in Wisconsin State, was the favorite of 
the party opposing a Mississippi River site. 

Dubuque County, of course, voted against Madison, but 
Des Moines County, the other of the two counties compos- 
ing Western Wisconsin, voted for Madison, and Madison 
won the day. 

The Des Moines County representatives were pretty 
sharp. By hook and crook they showed Burhngton had 
more residents than Dubuque, and secured a provision in 
the law to the effect that Burlington should be the tempor- 
ary capital, until Madison was prepared for the duties. Thus 
Dubuque and the other towns on the Mississippi were out- 
witted by Burlington. 

The candidacy of Burlington was much assisted by the 
Hon. Jeremiah Smith, Jr., a member of the Wisconsin Legis- 
lature that decided the question of capital. Before the gov- 
ernment officials could settle at Madison public buildings 
must be erected there. Belmont was so small, and the ac- 
commodations so meager, that the Territorial attaches did 
not like the idea of staying there until Madison was pre- 
pared. Mr. Smith was one of the wealthiest men in the 
Territory. He offered to put up a suitable building in Bur- 
lington for a temporary capital, if the legislature would hold 
its next session there. 

This was agreed to, it being understood the structure 
would cost $10,000. Belmont, having enjoyed brief glory 
of a capital, lapsed into obscurity, and the site of the old 
town is now a farm. 

The capital at Burlington was to be used until March 4, 
1839, unless the public buildings at Madison were com- 



LOCATING A CAPITAL. 191 

pleted before this limit. But only a few meetings were held 
in the structure, for fire destroyed it during the second ses- 
sion of the Wisconsin Legislature, in the fall of 1837. Leg- 
islatures used to assemble every year, instead of every two 
years, as now. 

After the fire the Council, as the Territorial Senate was 
termed, met in the upper room of a store building; the 
House in a frame dwelling. 

The third Wisconsin Territorial Legislature also con- 
vened at Burlington, in extra session, in the summer of 
1838. This session received the notice from Washington 
that Congress approved an act making Western Wisconsin 
a Territory, with name of Iowa. 

Thus Burlington, having served as capital of Wisconsin 
Territory, was on the high road to farther honor. It was 
expected that the town would be the capital of the new 
Territory. 

July 4, 1838, Iowa Territory was organized. Robert Lu- 
cas, of Ohio, was appointed governor, by the president, with 
power to select the capital, and to do a great many other 
things made necessary by the conditions encountered. He 
was commissioner of Indian affairs as well. 

Governor Robert Lucas was a distinguished man. He 
had twice been governor of Ohio. He had been nineteen 
years in the Ohio Legislature, had presided at the national 
convention which nominated President Jackson for a sec- 
ond term, and had served in the War of 181 2. 

Mr. Lucas was a native of Virginia, and at this time fifty- 
seven years old. He was tall and spare, and bore some re- 
semblance to Andrew Jackson. His hair was tinged with 
gray, and was combed back without a part, so that it 



192 



THE MAKING OF IOWA. 



formed a ruff, or "top." He was quiet and reserved in his 
manner. 

The time allowed Governor Lucas to remove from Ohio 
to Iowa was very short, and his preparations were hur- 
riedly made. Before he transacted much business devolving 




ROBERT I^UCAS (First Governor of Iowa Territory). 

Upon him by reason of his new duties he made a tour of the 
river counties for the purpose of becoming acquainted with 
the people whom he was to govern. He stopped a few days 
at Burlington, but did not at once choose it as the capital. 
Before fall Governor Lucas had ascended the Mississippi 



LOCATING A CAPITAL. 193 

from Keokuk to Dubuque, and had been entertained by 
Antoine LeClaire, and had learned a great deal about Iowa. 
When the boat halted at the "landings," as the towns along 
the bank were termed, he gathered much information from 
the people whom he met. Where Sabula now is there was 
such a crowd on the shore that the governor asked the cap- 
tain of the Brazil : 

"What is the trouble here ?" 

"They're voting. This is a voting precinct," exclaimed 
the captain. "Do you want to vote?" 

The governor and party decided that they did. The cap- 
tain had the boat turned into shore, and his passengers 
stepped onto the bank and voted for Congressman. 

After he had seen a number of towns in Iowa Territory, 
Governor Lucas selected Burlington as capital, until the 
Legislature should change the location. 

The Legislature convened in November, 1838, in Zion 
Church. The Council had thirteen members, the House, 
twenty-six. 

Zion Church deserves to be remembered. It was the first 
brick church erected in Iowa Territory, and, besides serv- 
ing as the first capitol of the Territory, was intimately con- 
nected with the growth 'of this section of the country. It 
was the court house and was for many years the chief pub- 
lic building, place of amusement, etc., in Burlington. 

The Council met in the basement, the House in the main 
room. The pulpit was the speaker's desk. Only three or 
four in the Legislature had had experience in such gather- 
ings ; therefore, this first general assembly labored under 
disadvantages. 

The legislators came to Burlington on horseback, by 



194 THE MAKING OF IOWA. 

stage, by steamboat, and on foot. Winter set in unusually 
early. Stationery purchased in the East was blockaded at 
St. Louis, by the ice, and it became necessary to hire teams 
to haul the supplies from that city to Burlington. A library 
of statutes of other Territories and of States, procured for 
the instruction of the legislators, was left at St. Louis. This 
increased the difficulties attending the first assembly. 

The Legislature had a great amount of work to do. It 
passed over 600 pages of laws, and although an extravagant 
policy was favored by many of the members, guided by the 
wise suggestions of Governor Lucas it inaugurated some 
beneficent measures. 

The Legislature did not always agree with the Governor. 
He recommended economy. The Assembly, acting con- 
trary to his advice, elected twice the number of officers that 
Ohio, a comparatively old State, possessed. A member said : 

"Uncle Sam is a cow, and we will milk her freely." 

As a consequence of this policy, when the Legislature ad- 
journed it had not only used up all the appropriation voted 
by Congress, but had run in debt, while members had been 
so reckless that they were compelled to borrow money with 
which to secure passage to their homes. 

The message of Governor Lucas to the Legislature was a 
wise and statesmanlike document — one of the very best eve? 
delivered to any Iowa legislative assembly. He recom- 
mended that land be procured for literary purposes — mean- 
ing for a State university — and in other ways showed that he 
was a broad-minded, far-seeing man. 

In this first Legislature were several rather old charac- 
ters. The president of the Council was Captain Jesse B. 
Browne, who had been one of the officers stationed at Fort 



Locating a capital. 195 

Des Moines No. i. He was six feet six inches, and with 
one exception was the tallest man in Burlington. He was 
nicknamed the "tall cedar of Lebanon". His rival in height 
was a Methodist minister. 

Then there was Robert G. Roberts, of Cedar County. He 
never was quiet, but roamed all about the House, joking 
with his fellow members. He did not keep track of what was 
going on, and when a motion was put he would call. 

"Mr. Speaker, if Cedar is in that 'ere bill I vote yea; if 
not, no." 

In fun one day a bill was presented depriving the county 
of Cedar of representation in the House. Roberts, being 
assured that "Cedar is in that 'ere bill", voted for it. When 
he discovered what he had done, he begged that the action 
be reconsidered. The other members assented, but after 
that Representative Roberts was always careful to under- 
stand what was before the Hoiise. 

James W. Grimes, third governor of the State of Iowa, 
was a prominent member of the House ; in the Council was 
Stephen Hempstead, destined to be the second governor. 

While in Burlington Governor Lucas lived at the Bur- 
lington Hotel. In the fall of 1838, Keokuk and his braves 
paid a visit to the Governor and other Territorial officers. 
The occasion was one of much display and dignity. Keokuk 
made an address, to which the Governor responded. In the 
spring the Governor and party returned the courtesy. Bag- 
gage wagons, tents, and cooking utensils were taken along, 
for the trip to the agency required some time. 

A favorite garb in those days was the Mackinaw blanket 
overcoat. Governor Lucas wore one reaching to his ankles, 
and having a broad, red stripe around the bottom. The 




ctS 



h-I 
W 
H 
O 

w 

H 



196 



LOCATING A CAPITAL. 197 

Governor was an earnest Christian ; he regularly attended 
service at the Methodist Church, and often, by invitation of 
the minister, would follow the sermon with an address to 
the congregation. 

He had been appointed for three years, and in 1841 was 
succeeded by Governor John Chambers. Governor Lucas 
then resided on a farm owned by him, near Iowa City. 
Here, February 7, 1853, he died. 

The first Territorial Legislature decided to remove the 
capital farther west. A commission sent out to select a lo- 
cation in Johnson County, in May, 1839, fixed on a site at 
Iowa City, or City of Iowa, as it was thought the town 
would be called. At this time the only building in sight 
from the spot where the stake had been driven was a half 
finished log cabin. 

April 30, 1 84 1, Governor Lucas issued a proclamatioti 
changing the capital from Burlington to Iowa City. Pend- 
ing the completion of a capitol building, a two-story frame 
structure, called the Butler Hotel, was used as head- 
quarters, and here, in December, 1841, the fourth regular 
session of the Iowa Territorial Legislature was held. For 
five or six years, however, much of the executive business 
was transacted at Burlington. 

Iowa became a State, with Iowa City still the capital. But 
there was a feeling that the seat of government should be 
near the center of the area. Des Moines was selected for 
the honor, and in November, 1857, the State effects were 
moved from Iowa City and the old capitol, to the new capi- 
tol, then hardly more than half finished. It was not until 
the close of the year that the last loads of State goods — in 
bobsleds drawn by oxen — reached Des Moines. 



198 



THE MAKING OF IOWA. 



The Western Stage Co. gave free transportation to State 
officials making the change. The members of the Seventh 
General Assembly, the first Assembly to meet in Des Moines, 
came to the capital by stage and wagon. Probably some 
walked. Many legislators traveled over a hundred miles, 




'■'^"^^^n:^ 






OLD CAPITOL AT DES MOINES. 



with the thermometer twenty below. No railroads pene- 
trated to the capital then. 

The capitol building was in the midst of heavy woods, 
with squirrels, quail and grouse abundant. Along Four 
Mile Creek, to the east, were wild turkeys, and an occa- 
sional elk and deer. There were no sidewalks near the capi- 
tol. Hazel brush was dense. Not far ofif was a pond con- 



LOCATING A CAPITAL. 199 

taining musk rats. The only bridge across the river was 
a pontoon structure. The East Side, the side on which the 
capitol then, as well as to-day, was located, had about thirty 
houses. Muddy lowland stretched between the capitol and 
the river. 

The first governor of the State of Iowa was Ansel Briggs, 
who was elected October 26, 1846. He was a native of New 
Hampshire, and in early manhood had operated a stage line. 
He was an unassuming man, of pleasing address. He was 
exceedingly plain in his dress and manners. At this time 
many people in Iowa were opposed to banks. Ansel Briggs 
won popularity by his stand on the question, and his utter- 
ance at a banquet, "No banks but earth, and these well 
tilled," greatly assisted his candidacy for the governorship. 

The most remarkable of the State governors, preceding 
war times, was James W. Grimes, third of the executives, 
and elected in 1854. His administration required a man of 
strong character, for the slavery contest between the peo- 
ple of Kansas, who wanted slavery, and those w^ho did not 
want it, was waging, involving Missouri and Iowa. Gov- 
ernor Grimes was a bitter foe to slavery. In his campaign 
he drove about from county to county, urging all the citizens 
to stand firm against the importation of slaves into the 
North. When lowans who moved into Kansas to settle 
were maltreated by ruffians trying to keep anti-slavery peo- 
ple out of the Territory, Governor Grimes sent an indig- 
nant protest to President Pierce, demanding protection for 
Iowa emigrants. 

Said Governor Grimes, in an address : 

*'As well attempt to dam the Des Moines River with 
prairie hay as to try to eradicate the aspirations for univer- 



200 THE MAKING OF IOWA. 

sal freedom from the soul of every American who appre- 
ciates his own Hberty." 

Governor Grimes was also opposed to intoxicating liquor, 
and would not attend a banquet at Burlington because 
champagne was to be on the table. 

Governor Grimes' career was characterized by honesty 
of purpose and loyalty to principle. He always meant what 
he said, and never was guilty of double dealing. His life was 
especially beautiful because of his devotion to his wife and 
home. 

The State has great reason to remember and be proud of 
Governor James W. Grimes. 



CHAPTER XXV. 

A LITTLE BORDER WAR. 

When Governor Lucas entered upon the duties of his 
office he found a serious dispute on his hands. The issue 
at point was the northern boundary of Missouri — or the 
southern boundary of Iowa — and before the first executive 
of Iowa Territory had been in office two years Iowa and 
Missouri mihtia were opposing one another, ready to en- 
gage in battle. 

When Missouri became a State in 1820 her constitution 
defined her northern boundary as the parahel of latitude 
that passed through the "rapids of the river Des Moines." 
The land along this parallel was then in the possession of the 
Indians, but as soon as the Indian title expired Missouri 
took steps to establish her exact limits. 

In 1836 Missouri appointed a commission to locate this 
boundary. The United States and the Territory of Wiscon- 
sin were invited to have representatives on the commission, 
but failed to respond. Missouri went ahead alone. In 1837 
her commission decided that the "rapids of the river Des 
Moines" were those rapids in the Des Moines River itself, 
and that the parallel of latitude indicated by the constitu- 
tion must be the one passing through the great bend in the 
Des Moines River, near Keosauqua. 

By common usage, for many years the term "Des Moines 
Rapids" had been taken to mean the rapids in the Missis- 
sippi, just above the mouth of the Des Moines. All reports 

201 



202 THE MAKING OF IOWA. 

by travelers who ascended the Mississippi, and all descrip- 
tion by rivermen, and even Indians, called these rapids the 
"Des Moines Rapids." 

So here was ground for stubborn argument. To increase 
the difficulties and confusion, the southern boundary of Wis- 
consin Territory was defined by Congress as the northern 
boundary of Missouri ! 

Thus Missouri claimed a strip of land some thirteen miles 
wide, now forming Iowa's southern border. The people 
living in Southern Wisconsin and Northern Missouri were 
rough and impulsive, ready with the rifle, and awed but lit- 
tle by law. When a Missouri sheriiT tried to exercise his 
duties in what he considered Northern Missouri, the settlers 
there asserted that he was out of his jurisdiction, and they 
refused to recognize his authority. He was arrested. 
Names were called and threats were made. 

The dispute was fiercest on the border between Clarke 
County, Missouri, and what is now Van Buren County, 
Iowa. The clerk of Clarke County attempted to levy taxes 
in Iowa, and was resisted. He then appealed to Governor 
Boggs, of Missouri. That executive ordered out i,ooo mili- 
tia to uphold what he deemed the dignity of the State. 

Governor Lucas, of Iowa Territory, already had passed 
through a similar contest, when he was Governor of Ohio, 
between Ohio and Michigan Territory, and had come out 
with flying colors. Besides, he was a soldier, and prompt 
in his actions. He at once called for Iowa militia to keep 
back what promised to be an invasion by Missouri. 

The settlements in low"^ Territory at this time, the latter 
part of 1839, were scattered, and the militia was poorly or- 
ganized. But within a short time after the call to arms 500 



A LITTLE BORDER WAR. 203 

Hawkeyes, under orders from Major-General Jesse B. 
Browne, were encamped in Van Buren County, and directly 
opposite were i,ooo Missourians, under General Allen. The 
two forces were glaring at each other, anxious for a fracas. 
Fortunately no fighting occurred. Major-General Browne 
sent a peace commission into Clarke County. When this 
commission arrived at Waterloo it was ascertained that the 
order for levying of taxes had been withdrawn, and that a 
committee had been dispatched to present to the Iowa Leg- 
islature, then in session at Burlington, proposals for friendly 
arbitration. 

General Allen withdrew his troops. The Iowa Legisla- 
ture assented to a treaty of peace. The valiant Iowa militia 
was dismissed. 

^ The boundary dispute was not yet settled, although war 
was averted. Not until January 3, 185 1, did the Supreme 
Court of the United States make a final decree. Iowa won, 
for while the Supreme Court did not accept the claims of 
either side as to the rapids, an old Indian boundary line 
run by John C. Sullivan, government surveyor, in 18 16, was 
selected by the court as the proper one. This was run over 
again by a commission, to correct errors. The eastern ter- 
minus came much below the point insisted on by Missouri, 
and Iowa was satisfied. 

The question was decided just in time. Missouri was a 
slave State, Iowa a free State, and a tract such as this, if 
in dispute, would cause most se'rious trouble. 

The land claimed by both Iowa and Missouri was for the 
most part heavily wooded, and rich in bee trees. On this 
account the quarrel has been termed the "Honey War." 
Many jokes were made about the contest. Frontier poets 



204 THE MAKING OF IOWA. 

even wrote verse about it. A Missouri wag composed quite 
a long poem, which had wide circulation through the settle- 
ments. It began as follows : 

Ye freemen of this happy land, 

Which flows with milk and honey, 
Arise! To arms! Your ponies mount! 

Regard not blood or money. 
Old Governor Lucas, tiger-like, 

Is prowling round our borders, 
But Governor Boggs is wide awake — 

Just listen to his orders: 

Three bee trees stand about the line 

Between our state and Lucas. 
Be ready all these trees to fall 

And bring things to a focus. 
We'll show old Lucas how to brag, 

And seize our precious honey! 
He also claims, I understand, 

Of, us three bits in money. 

This "Honey War" was full of amusing incidents, arising 
from the confusion. Settlers living on the strip in dispute 
did not know whether they were lowans or Missourians. 

One day two old women of the tract were gossiping to- 
gether about the ownership of the land. Said one, shaking 
her head slowly : 

"I dew hope it won't fall tew Missouri, fer Missouri's so 
sickly." 



A LITTLE BORDER WAR. 205 

"Wall, I dunno," replied the other, puffing at her pipe. 
"They alluz raise wheat in Missouri." 

Just as though a change in government would change 
the climate ! 

Among the settlers of the strip were Samuel Riggs and 
Jonathan Riggs. They were cousins. Samuel was sheriff 
of Davis County, Iowa, and Jonathan was sheriff of Schuy- 
ler County, Missouri. Both counties claimed the land. 
Jonathan arrested Samuel for infringing on the laws of Mis- 
souri, and thereupon Samuel arrested Jonathan for holding 
office in Missouri while living in Iowa. Samuel was so 
angry that he confined his cousin in jail for two months. 

It can easily be seen what curious situations would arise 
from this dispute between Iowa and Missouri. 

One of the results of the "Honey War" was the first re- 
view of the Iowa militia. When the call was issued by Gov- 
ernor Lucas for troops to repel invasion by Missouri, the 
Iowa militia had hardly been formed, and was much inferior 
to the troops of Missouri. Governor Lucas hurriedly ap- 
pointed commissioned officers in the localities where com- 
panies were to be raised. Couriers were sent out on horse- 
back to various points to request all able-bodied men to 
meet at some locality for the purpose of enlistment. Usu- 
ally a blacksmith shop or a schoolhouse was selected as a 
convenient rallying place. 

The recruits were ordered to bring with them what weap- 
ons they possessed or could procure. Outlying districts 
did not even know why militia was wanted, but the response 
to Governor Lucas' appeal was earnest and loyal. 

The troops were armed with rifles, shotguns, pistols, and 
other firearms of a variety of forms. Some of the officers 



206 THE MAKING OF IOWA. 

had trailing dragoon swords ; some had straight dress 
swords ; some had no swords. No two men were attired or 
armed aUke. The Iowa Territorial militia of the winter of 
1839-40 was a strange sight. 

About 1,200 men enlisted under Governor Lucas' procla- 
mation, yet this militia never was paid for its services. 
Neither were the persons who furnished supplies recom- 
pensed for their efforts. Soon after the hostile demonstra- 
tions on the border had been quieted, a review of the Border 
War Army of Iowa Territory was ordered, to take place 
at Burlington. The Governor wished to ascertain the con- 
dition and the numerical strength of the troops. Many of 
the soldiers hoped the review was ordered so that a payroll 
might be made up, and were deluded into vain rejoicings. 

The Territorial militia was very green, having had com- 
paratively no drill. The men were hastily instructed by 
Colonel Temple, the commanding officer, so that they might 
make as presentable an appearance as was possible, under 
the conditions. In particular, they were impressed with the 
idea that to be military they must look stern. 

The reviewing party consisted of the Governor, his aides, 
and Lieutenant Ruggles, of the regular army, the inspect- 
ing- officer. All were on horseback. Governor Lucas wore 
a blue jeans coat, long, and buttoned closely about his body ; 
his trousers were tucked into high, stout boots ; his hat was 
by no means new. Lieutenant Ruggles was gorgeous, for 
the army uniform of those days was brilliant with lace and 
glitter. 

His frock coat was of the regulation blue, richly adorned 
with gold lace and gilt buttons. The collar was a tall stock, 
which tightly enclosed his throat, as by a vice. His boots 



A LITTLE BORDER WAR. 207 

had buff tops. Huge epaulets were on his shoulders, and 
on his head a chapeau with two long plumes waving from it. 
The settlers stared at him in admiration. 

In marching in review, the militia traversed a field. The 
ground was uneven, and covered with stumps, hazel brush 
and the limbs of trees. Every few moments a soldier would 
stub his toe, and fall. Then his companions, or an officer, 
would swear at him. When the order, ''Present arms," was 
given, the line showed a medley of rifles and shotguns. 

The soldiers watched the handsome lieutenant much more 
closely than they did their maneuvers. 



CHAPTER XXVI. 

THE MARCH OF THE MORMONS. 

In February, 1839, Governor Lucas, of Iowa Territory, 
received a communication from Elder Isaac Galland, of the 
Mormon Church, asking whether, if Mormons purchased 
land in Iowa, they would be permitted to stay there. 

Governor Lucas replied that he knew of no authority 
which would deprive them of their rights to reside in the 
Territory ; that they were citizens of the United States, and 
Iowa would see that they were given the privileges enjoyed 
by other citizens. 

The leader of the Mormons in this day was Joseph Smith. 
He claimed that in a vision he had been told to dig in the 
ground at a certain spot. Following the instructions, he had 
unearthed a book of stone. He translated the characters 
contained in the book, and said he had found the Book of 
the Mormon, which presented a new religion. 

Joseph Smith was living in Western New York. He began 
to preach. His followers increased, and in 1831 the sect es- 
tablished headquarters at Kirkland, Ohio. From there this 
Church of Mormon, or Church of Jesus Christ of Latter 
Day Saints, removed to New Jerusalem, in Missouri. The 
Missouri people, like the Ohio people, opposed the settle- 
ment, and in 1838 the members of the faith were driven out 
of the State. A number were killed, and others were rough- 
ly treated. It was necessary to seek a refuge among a 

208 



THE MARCH OF THE MORMONS. 209 

more friendly people, and the eyes of many Mormons turned 
to Iowa Territory. 

Having received this courteous response from Governor 
Lucas, Elder Galland and a number of others in the church 
settled in the southeastern corner of the new Territory. 
Part of the town site of Keokuk was bought by the Mor- 
mons, and at Nashville, later Galland, Montrose and other 
points in Lee County property was acquired. By January, 
1840, about 100 families were residents of Lee County. 

The condition of some of these Mormons was pitiable. 
It is related that in December, 1839, ^ crowd of men, re- 
turning from a visit to Pennsylvania, was obliged to' leave 
the steamboat at the foot of the Des Moines Rapids, and 
walk around the rapids, because the river was so low. 
Where Galland is the travelers saw a little cabin. They 
thought they might get some refreshment here, so they 
looked in. 

On the floor lay a white-headed, old man, his wife, and 
several children. The weather was quite cold, yet the fam- 
ily had only straw as covering. 

The wife said that once her husband had been prosperous, 
but that because they were Mormons they had been driven 
out of Missouri, and their cabin there, with all its contents, 
had been burned. 

A Missourian in the party said : 

"Served you right. I wish we had caught you and fixed 
you before you got out of Missouri." 

Daniel Miller, one of his companions, spoke up, and 
strongly rebuked the Missourian, using such emphatic lan- 
guage that the two men nearly had a fight. 

In 1840 Miller was running for the Legislature. While 



210 THE MAKING OF IOWA. 

campaigning he revisited the spot, and found a Hvely set- 
tlement. Here he was stricken with fever and ague, and, 
strangely enough, was taken care of by the very family who 
had been so destitute not a year before. When Miller was 
well, and about to start out again, the Mormon husband 
said: 

"You're running for the Legislature, aren't you?" 

"Yes," said Miher, "I am." 

**Well," continued the other, "you just go home and stay 
there, and don't worry over election. We Mormons hold the 
balance of power in this section, and I'll see to it that you're 
elected." 

Miller knew that the man spoke the truth. He went 
home, and waited. When the ballots were counted it was 
lound he had a splendid majority. 

The bulk of the Mormons, after their flight from Missouri, 
gathered at Quincy, Illinois. But they did not stay here 
long. 

They wanted a permanent home. Across the Mississippi 
from Montrose was the village of Commerce, formerly a 
trading post. This site the Mormons purchased, built a 
city, and called it Nauvoo. The community flourished, large 
numbers of converts flocking into it. ^ 

Even the Indians were curious. The Mormons tried to 
enlist them in the cause, and one day Keokuk, with fifty 
braves, their squaws and pappooses, visited Nauvoo, to 
smoke the pipe of peace at a conference with his "brother," 
Joseph Smith. 

But Keokuk was unconvinced. Said he : 

"As for the New Jerusalem, to which we are all going to 
emigrate, so far as he was concerned, it depended very much 



THE MARCH OP^ THE MORMONS. 211 

on whether there would be any government annuities 
(yearly payments), and as for 'the milk and honey' which 
was to flow over the land, he was not particular — he much 
preferred whisky." 

The Mormons carried things with too high a hand. Illi- 
nois set about to expel them. Rumors bearing the gravest 
charges against the Saints were in circulation. There were 
reports of an organization among them termed the Sons 
of Danites, for the purpose of driving out dissenters, and 
killing enemies, and even inofifensive persons. The murder 
of Colonel Davenport, on Rock Island, was laid at the door 
of the Danites. During Iowa Territorial days portions of 
Iowa and Illinois contiguous to the Mississippi were in- 
fested with desperate thieves and robbers, and the Sons of 
Danites were supposed to have a hand in the doings of these 
bands. The doctrine of plurality of wives also was detested 
by the Gentiles, or anti-Mormons. 

In June, 1845, Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum were 
killed by a mob at Carthage, Illinois. In October the Mor- 
mon leaders signed a paper, by which they promised to leave 
the State as fast as their affairs could be settled up. 

At this time there were in Nauvoo and suburbs 2,500 
houses, some frame shanties, others very handsome struc- 
tures of brick or stone. A great temple was under way. It 
was to be two full stories, built from white stone, and carved 
with mystic figures of the moon and sun. Over the wide 
entrance arch was to be in letters of gold "Holiness to the 
Lord." The spire was to soar one hundred and fifty feet 
into the sky, and on the point was to be an angel holding 
a golden trumpet. 

The Gentiles asserted that this temple was a fortification, 



212 THE MAKING OF IOWA. 

to be used to withstand attack. Hatred of the Mormons 
grew so, that while the workman labored on the building 
he kept weapons close at hand. 

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints now pre- 
pared for another change of abiding place. Driven out of 
Ohio, Missouri and Illinois, the Mormons decided this time 
to go so far that they would not again be molested. In 
January, 1846, a circular announced that early in March a 
party of pioneers would be sent to the Rocky Mountains, 
to seek a site for another city. 

In February the Mormons began to leave Illinois. They 
crossed from Nauvoo into Iowa. At first they rowed over 
in river crafts, but intense cold soon froze the water in the 
channel, so that the ice was safe. By the end of the month 
1,200 wagons had made the passage. The transfer con- 
tinued, until by the middle of May 16,000 Mormons were 
on Iowa soil. This was the first detachment, and now began 
the long pilgrimage westward. 

The first camp was at Sugar Creek. Snow covered the 
ground, for the spring was backward. But, although wet, 
cold and exiled, the Saints set out in a long line, with 3,000 
wagons, 30,060 head of cattle, many horses, mules and 
sheep, for a new home they knew not where. 

As the march progressed, Mormon stations were estab- 
lished. The second camp was at Richardson's point, Lee 
County. April 27, the site of Garden Grove, Decatur 
County, was reached. The bugle sounded a halt, and a 
company was told off to form a settlement. The site of 
Mt. Pisgah, Union County, was attained June 17, and here 
also sprang up a Mormon community. 

These stations were resting places, and bases of supplies, 
for the Mormon emigrants who followed. 




213 



214 THE MAKING OF IOWA. 

The Mormons who tried to remain in Nauvoo after the 
first body left were harshly used. In September they were 
attacked by Gentiles, and after brief resistance capitulated. 
They were compelled to hasty flight, and those overtaken 
on the Illinois shore were ducked, and sent, dripping, over 
the river on fiatboats. The place in Iowa where they hud- 
dled, miserable and poor, was termed "Poor Camp." Their 
plight was so wretched that Illinois people sent them pro- 
visions. 

'Poor Camp" was two miles above Montrose. From 
Garden Grove and Mt. Pisgah the Mormons in advance dis- 
patched wagons to the relief of their suffering brethren. Be- 
fore these arrived, a multitude of quail fell in "Poor Camp," 
and all along the river for forty miles. This was thought 
to be an act of divine favor. 

In October "Poor Camp" was deserted. In the meantime 
the other Mormons were traversing Iowa. All summer long 
this pilgrimage was in progress. The Mormons were not 
dismayed by their trials, but were a merry throng. Stringed 
instruments were in every party, and around the evening 
campfires story telling, singing and dancing were indulged 
in. Prayers were offered every night, and at every halt. 

At first northwest winds blew in the faces of the travelers. 
As spring advanced the prairie became muddy and soft, and 
rains were frequent. Sometimes a mile a day was all that 
could be accomplished. Many of the vehicles were hand 
carts, with canvas tops. The women as well as the men 
stood between the shafts, and pulled. 

As the weather grew warmer pasturage was abundant, 
provisions were plenty, and fuel was easily procured. No 
enemies were present to molest the Saints. Iowa treated the 



THE MARCH OF THE MORMOXS. 215 

strangers kindly, and they loudly sang hymns of thankful- 
ness as they marched. 

But there were many deaths. Bodies were placed between 
two half cylinders formed by stripping bark from a log, and 
were buried in a shallow grave. The aged and the ill rode 
in the wagons. 

The Mormons were objects of much curiosity to the set- 
tlers. Ignorant people spread the report that the pilgrims 
were going about in imitation of John the Baptist, clad in 
buffalo robes. Others insisted that the Saints were in the 
pay of the British, and were taking to the Pottawattamies 
gifts of scarlet uniforms, and twelve brass field pieces. 

July I, 1846, the first wagons reached the Missouri River, 
where Council Bluffs now is. Temporary camp was made 
here until it was ascertained that the Pawnees, Omahas and 
Sioux would permit them to cross the Missouri. In August 
the Mormons entered Nebraska. "Winter Quarters" was 
established on the west side of the Missouri. Here the Mor- 
mons stayed until the summer of 1848. Then a portion of 
them went on to Salt Lake ; the rest returned to the site 
of Council Bluffs, and made headquarters within the present 
limits of the city. 

Soon they occupied a large part of Pottawattamie and 
Mills Counties, guided public sentiment and controlled elec- 
tions. 

They were very fond of dancing. The balls opened with 
prayer. As the women outnumbered the men, two women 
were assigned each man, as partners. The march of the 
Mormons across Iowa still continued. Even as late as i860 
parties stopped oft" at Council Bluffs, formerly known as 
Kanesville, to outfit ere attempting the plains westward. In 



216 THE MAKING OF IOWA. 

1855 several luindred men, women and children came in on 
foot, hauling hand carts procured at Iowa City. 

The Mormons were the pioneers who settled Western 
Iowa. After their arrival in 1846, the vicinity of Council 
BlufTs rapidly increased in population. Every party of 
Saints passing through left behind a few persons to swell 
the number. The Mormon Trail was a favorite highway 
for the emigrants. The Mormon pilgrims of the spring 
and summer of 1846 opened the first road through Iowa. 

Many Mormons who did not believe in the whole doctrine 
taught by their leaders, particularly the section authorizing a 
man to have more than one wife, remained in this State. 
They are styled the Reformed Church of the Latter Day 
Saints. The headquarters of this branch is to-day Lamoni, 
in Decatur County. The membership is large and the peo- 
ple are orderly and law abiding. 



CHAPTER XXVIl. 

SOME RATHER EXTRAORDINARY COLONIES. 

While Iowa was being settled a number of odd bands of 
people sought a home in the Territory. Some were worthy, 
and some were unworthy. 

Among the latter was the Socialistic Commonwealth, at 
Salubria, Van Buren County. This was founded by Abner 
Kneeland, an infidel and scoffer at God and Christianity — 
in fact, a believer in no deity and in no religion. In 1834 
Kneeland created a great stir in Boston, where he lived and 
where he lectured on his theories. In 1837 ^^ ^^3^ ^^ ^°"" 
ceived the idea of instituting a colony in the West. Natur- 
ally, as the Iowa District and the ''New Lands" were attract- 
ing much attention, he selected this region for investiga- 
tion, and finally fixed upon a point two miles south of Far- 
mington. He and his followers settled here, and adopted 
the name Salubria for the community. 

The settlement was composed of reckless and deluded 
men and women, and was an eyesore to pure-minded peo- 
ple. Many an early minister of Iowa had a tilt with Knee- 
land, who delighted in assailing the Gospel and the teach- 
ings of the Bible. He was a fine appearing man, and had 
little difficulty in impressing the more ignorant of the set- 
tlers. But in 1842 he grew arrogant enough to put an in- 
fidel state ticket in the political field. He was defeated, and 
from that hour his power waned. Soon afterward he died. 
The colony went to ruin. Now there is only open country 
where Salubria once was. 

Another queer order of people that for some years dwelt 
in Iowa was composed of followers of ''Baneemyism". 

217 



218 THE MAKING OF IOWA. 

The leader was Charles B. Thompson, who had been a 
Mormon at Nauvoo, but who moved to St. Louis, where he 
started a church of his own. In 1853 this church chose a 
site on Soldier River, fifteen miles southeast of Onawa, in 
Monona County, and in 1854 quite a flourishing settlement 
was there. The town was called Preparation. The colony 
owned several thousand acres. 

Thompson asserted he was Ephraim of the Scriptures, and 
instructed his people to address him as "Father 
Ephraim". He said he was under direction of a spirit named 
"Baneemy". He told his followers that they must transfer 
to him all their property, even apparel, and must render 
him service free. His dupes did this, but when they asked 
him to restore to them some of their goods he refused. 

Then Elder Hugh Lytle and twenty others sued "Father 
Ephraim", but could get no satisfaction. Thus trouble oc- 
curred, so that the colony at Preparation was divided, the 
Lytleites bitterly opposing Thompson. 

Thompson termed himself "Chief Steward of the Lord", 
and transferred the property he was holding to his wife and 
to a confederate, Guy C. Barnum, "Assistant Chief Steward 
of the Lord". He pretended he was working for the good 
of the people. 

One day, in the fall of 1858, Thompson and Barnum were 
returning from Onawa. They were within a mile of Prep- 
aration when a young woman met them and told them to 
flee if they wanted to escape hanging. At this moment they 
saw riding over a hill in front of them some horsemen. 

"Father Ephraim" and his "assistant steward" leaped out 
of the wagon, unhitched the team, mounted the horses, and 
away they galloped. Through ravine and across plain fled 



SOME RATHER EXTRAORDINARY COLONIES. 219 

the two men, pursued clear to Onawa by the infuriated 
Lytleites. 

A hanging did not take place, but this was the last of 
**Baneemyism" and the reign of ''Father Ephraim". 

So much for some of the unworthy colonies. Of a far 
different character are the Amana people, who came to Iowa 
in 1855. They left Germany in 1852, seeking a new life and 
a wider range of liberty in America. They settled at Eben- 
ezer, near Buffalo, New York, calling themselves the Com- 
munity of True Inspiration. In 1855 they purchased 18,000 
acres of land in Iowa County, Iowa, and founded a colony 
which bore the name Amana — meaning "remain true". 
Since then the society has grown and prospered, until there 
are several towns, and the thriftiness and honesty of the citi- 
zens are known all over the country. 

About 1859 a large party of Hungarians, exiles because of 
their rebellion against Austria, arrived in Iowa, and settled 
on the Grand River, in Decatur County. Iowa welcomed 
them, as she welcomed all oppressed and persecuted people, 
and was taking measures to give them a grant of land for 
a home when they decided to seek a haven farther south, 
because of the cold Iowa winters. So they moved to Texas. 
But Hungarian patriotism is honored by Kossuth County, 
named after Louis Kossuth, who led the Hungarians in 
their struggles against the Austrian Government. 

Before either the Community of True Inspiration, or the 
Hungarian settlement, a body of Hollanders came to Iowa 
and established themselves in Marion County, at Pella. In 
the summer of 1847 there appeared in St. Louis a company 
of 700 stout Dutchmen seeking a place where they might 
worship as they pleased. From St. Louis they sent out a 



220 THE MAKING OF IOWA. 

committee to find the spot best fitted for their purpose. 
Dutch emigrants were much in favor then, as now, and 
many States offered inducements. IlHnois had Nauvoo, 
which the Mormons had just given up ; but Nauvoo did not 
win the day. Missouri was objectionable on account of the 
existence of slavery. Texas was too eager. Iowa was 
chosen. 

From St. Louis the Hollanders went on a steamboat up 
the river to Keokuk. Before they disembarked they held 
a service of thankfulness. Then they bought supplies — 
horses, oxen and wagons — preparing for their march in- 
land. They paid in gold and the settlers were glad enough 
to have such good customers. 

When the strangers tried to drive the horses the animals 
proved a source of much amusement, because they did not 
understand the Dutch commands. Not until an obliging 
settler spoke to the horses in round frontier American did 
they consent to move. 

The men wore knickerbockers, velvet jackets, and soft 
flowing ties. On their low shoes were great silver buckles. 
The women were rosy cheeked, and had funny little bonnets 
and caps. All in all, this was an odd looking calvacade that 
passed up the Des Moines Valley. No wonder the settlers 
stared. 

When the travelers arrived at a spot where a pole stuck 
in the earth bore a shingle reading "Pella", they knew they 
had reached their journey's end. Pella means ''place of ref- 
uge". 

From Pella have gone forth all over Iowa, and into many 
another state, men and women who represent the very best 
in citizenship. 



CHAPTER XXVIII. 



FROM CANOE TO RAILROAD. 



The rivers were Iowa's first highways. The Indian in his 
canoe made free use of them, and the trapper in his dug- 
out sped from point to point on their current. The rivers 
used to be much larger than they are now. The Iowa, Des 
Moines, Cedar and even the Turkey were thought to be 
navigable, and for a long time it was supposed that with 
the advance of civilization the interior of Iowa would echo 
to the whistle and the puffing of steamboats. Settlers con- 
gratulated themselves on possessing land on the banks of 
such streams, and towns were boomed on the strength of 
their importance as traffic centers. 

But, although steamboats did ascend some of the rivers, 
the ventures did not continue to be remunerative. Shallows 
proved vexatious, speculation was too airy, and the advent 
of railroads made competition too sharp. To-day the Mis- 
sissippi and the Missouri may be said to be the only naviga- 
ble streams of Iowa. 

Before the steamboats put in an appearance the whites — 
French voyageurs, trappers and traders, and American riv- 
ermen — introduced on the Mississippi and Missouri the 
bargee, or barge, the keel boat, the batteau, the pirogue, 
the Kentuckv broadhorn, and the Mackinaw. 

The barge was flat bottomed, and was not unlike the 
barge of to-day, but had one or two masts bearing a square 
sail. If one mast, it was set forward. Near the stern was a 
cabin, and a platform on which stood the helmsman in order 

221 



222 THE MAKING OF IOWA. 

to manipulate his great sweep. Some of these barges were 
one hundred feet long and twenty wide, and were rowed by 
fifty men. 

A keel boat was a barge with a shallow hold and low hull. 
The freight was "boxed" on deck, with a gangway, called 
the "walking board", on the two sides. This "walking 
board" might project over the hull. 

Progress of barges and keel boats and other flat bottomed 
crafts was made by a variety of methods. If the water was 
shallow, and the current not too swift, poling was resorted 
to. If near the shore, there was a chance to "bushwhack" — 
that is, catch hold of the bushes and pull the boat along. 
"Cordelling" was another scheme. A cable was passed 
ahead on shore, and fastened to a tree. Then, grasping the 
rope on board, the crew walked from bow to stern with it 
on one side of the barge, each man, as he dropped it, return- 
ing by the other side to take a fresh grip at the bow again. 
That is why, on keel boats, the gangway was termed the 
"walking board". Sometimes men trudged along the bank, 
hauling the boat by a rope. There was a spice of danger 
in this, because savages or wild beasts or rattle snakes might 
be encountered. 

Batteaux,'Mackinaws and Kentucky broadhorns were sim- 
ilar to barges and keel boats. A pirogue was shaped like a 
flatiron, with square stern, and sharp bow, and flat bottom. 
Flat boats, or barges of various descriptions, were wont, 
even while Iowa still belonged to France and Spain, to come 
to St. Louis from Mackinaw, at the head of Lake Michigan. 
They entered the Mississippi at Prairie du Chien. Keel 
boats were favored by the government for transporting 
troops up the Mississippi. Sails and sweeps were used, and 



FROM CANOE TO RAILROAD. 223 

it may easily be seen that the rapids proved quite an ob- 
stacle. 

When a trapper or bee hunter wished to take advantage of 
a water route he made a dug-out by felling a tree, and burn- 
ing the heart out of it, so as to obtain a rude shell for a 
boat. Indian canoes could be secured from the tribes, but 
the dug-out was more satisfactory for carrying goods. 
Dug-outs were used by the early settlers, too, and if larger 
craft was needed timber for a fiat boat was plentiful. 

Steamboats churned the Mississippi some years before 
white settlers were allowed in Iowa. It is said that in 1820 
the steamer Mandan got as far as the foot of the Des 
Moines Rapids, and was unable to ascend. The Indians 
were amazed by her puffing and whistling. They peered at 
her from the high bliffs, and then fled, bearing to their 
friends tales of a terrible demon that had appeared in the 
Mississippi. 

The first steamboat to pass along Iowa's eastern border 
was the Virginia, which, in 1823, carried supplies to Prairie 
du Chien. Colonel Davenport piloted her over the rapids 
that stretch from Rock Island to Le Claire. The Shamrock, 
Captain James, in 1827 made the first trip on private busi- 
ness on this section of the Mississippi. 

In 1827 the steamboat Yellowstone was sent up the Mis- 
souri from St. Louis by the American Fur Company. 

Although from the very first the Des Moines River was 
deemed a navigable stream, not until the building of Fort 
Raccoon did the steamboat industry assume important pro- 
portions. The pioneer steamboat on the Des Moines was 
the S. B. Science, Captain Clark, which made a short trip 
in the fall of 1837. 



224 THE MAKING OF IOWA. 

August 9, 1843, tl^^ lone landed troops and supplies at 
Raccoon Forks, now Des Moines City. The lone was the 
first steamboat to ascend so far above the mouth of the 
river, and was hailed with rejoicing by the settlers whom it 
passed. 

Now navigation of the Des Moines took a great spurt. 
The Des Moines River was to be one of the most valuable 
streams in the country, and Central Iowa was to be the 
favored portion of the Territory. Congress was asked to 
assist in the matter, and in August, 1846, turned over to 
Iowa a large quantity of public land yet unsold, bordering 
the river on either side. 

This land was to be put on the market by Iowa, and the 
money acquired was to be spent in facilitating navigation 
on the Des Moines. 

''Des Moines River Improvement" set the people in Cen- 
tral Iowa wild. No man who prized his popularity dared 
say a word against it. It entered politics and became the 
issue of the campaigns. 

The story is given out that in 1850 two men, running for 
Congress, were campaigning together, and saw a farmer in 
a field. The rivals started for him as fast as they could run. 
The one who reached the goal first stretched out his hand 
and cried, breathlessly: 

"Hurrah for river improvement !" 

Then he discovered the supposed farmer was only a scare- 
crow. 

But politics and speculation ruined the progress of Des 
Moines River Improvement. The bubble burst. In 1866 
the Legislature declared the Des Moines, and the Turkey 
from the town of El Dorado, no longer navigable. This 



FROM CANOE TO RAILROAD. 225 

decision permitted the building of dams and bridges, which 
had been prohibited because obstructing the course of the 
steamboats. 

While Des Moines River Improvement was in its glory 
the boats running did a good business. They carried con- 
siderable freight and transported passengers from town to 
town. Standing on the deck of a steamer the crew and pas- 
sengers joked and chafTed with the people on shore, as the 
channel swerved now to one side, now to the other. A 
steamboat could go clear to Fort Dodge. 

An Ottumwa paper of June, 1854, said: 

"Since our last issue the steamboats have had fine times 
on the Demoine. The Globe, Sangamon, Col. Morgan, 
Julia Dean, Time and Tide, J. B. Gordon and Alice have all 
made trips up, some of them going as high as Fort De- 
moine. All of them returned to the Mississippi with loads 
as heavy as they could bear. Although we have numerous 
boats running on the Demoine this spring, and a vast 
amount of produce has been carried away, still a large por- 
tion of the surplus products of the country remains un- 
shipped ; and boats could make it profitable, if there was 
water enough, to run the whole season." 

A number of towns sprang up along the banks at places 
designed for landings. While navigation lasted they at- 
tained considerable importance. But when the river became 
too shallow for the boats, and traiBc ceased, the main occu- 
pation of these towns was gone. Their object for existing 
vanished, and in cases where the railroad did not help them 
they were left to dream of the times that were, and of those 
that might have been. Quiet, uneventful towns are these, 
eternally waiting for something to "turn up". 



226 THE MAKING OF IOWA. 

It seems strange to us who now see with what a network 
of raih-oads Iowa is covered, to know that for many years 
after settlement stage coaches connected the important 
points, and that the idea of iron tracks crossing the country 
was denounced as visionary. But not until 1867 did a loco- 
motive traverse the whole State of Iowa. 

Until the coming of the railroad, and for many years 
after the building of the first lines, the stage answered the 
general demands of inland travel and traffic. Frink and 
Walker was the company operating the first stages in Iowa. 
In 1854 the Western Stage Company succeeded the older 
concern. 

The early vehicles furnished to the public were simply two 
horse wagons without springs, and having a canvas top. 
These were pretty rough conveyances, especially on the 
prairie roads. The route out of Des Moines was Oskaloosa 
first day ; Fairfield second ; Keokuk third. The fare was ten 
dollars a passenger. 

When the Western Stage Company assumed charge of 
the stage lines in Iowa it put on wagons called by the public 
"jerkies". But in 1855 the regulation Concord coaches were 
substituted. These were drawn by four horses, and cost a 
thousand dollars each. 

Nine passengers could ride inside and four on top. Meals 
were served at stations. The driver blew a horn to announce 
the approach to a halting place. Even in these coaches the 
bumps and other inequalities of the road could be felt, and 
progress was not entirely comfortable. 

*'How far to Demoine City?" asked a traveler of the 
driver, at Apple Grove in 1854. 

''Sixteen miles," answered the driver. 



FROM CANOE TO RAILROAD. 227 

*'How long will it take to get there ?" 

''We can make it in five hours, I reckon, if the horses 
hold out and the bottom of the road does not give way." 

Among the stage routes was one from Davenport to 
Council Bluffs. This passed through Iowa City, Des Moines 
and Adel, and traversed 327 miles. Another from Lyons 
to Cedar Rapids, Iowa City, Davenport and Dubuque ; from 
Keokuk to Iowa City ; from Keokuk to Keosauqua ; and 
from Oskaloosa to Council Bluffs, passing through Indian- 
ola, Winterset and Lewis. 

Iowa was well covered by stage routes. The Western 
Stage Company was an enormously wealthy and prosperous 
institution, operating stage routes in other territory besides 
Iowa. During war time especially the company made 
money in Iowa. Thousands of soldiers were transported 
from place to place, for the railroads were not in a condition 
to supply all needs, and troops from the central portions of 
the State, and from the west, must be carried by stage to a 
rendezvous farther east. 

It was not until July i, 1870, that the last old coach pulled 
out of Des Moines for Indianola. 

In May, 1854, the first rail for a railroad in Iowa was laid 
at highwater mark, in Davenport. The first locomotive on 
Iowa soil was set up at Davenport a few weeks afterward, 
and was christened Antoine Le Claire. Railroads were 
stretching westward from the Atlantic to the Mississippi, 
and were waiting on the east bank until time was ripe for 
them t'O oross into a new field. 

As far back as 1838 there lived at Dubuque one John 
Plumb, who kept a tavern. He had a son who was a civil 
engineer and an enthusiast on the subject of a railroad from 



228 THE MAKING OF lOWA. 

Lake Michigan to the Pacific. He possessed a number of 
maps and sketches, and talked of the project to every one 
who came in his way. The travelers and settlers voted him a 
great bore, and said he was crazy. When he declared he 
would live to see such a road they put their fingers on their 
forehead and winked knowingly at one another. But young 
Plumb was wiser than they. If he lived to the allotted three 
score years and ten he saw himself vindicated. It was then 
his turn to laugh. 

In the summer of 1853 a meeting was held at Daven- 
port, between the citizens and the representatives of a rail- 
road then heading to strike the river opposite the town. It 
was decided to send out agents to talk with the people of 
Iowa, along a proposed route of the line, westward, and in- 
terest them in the matter. 

But these agents had an uphill task. A large number of 
the settlers never had seen a railroad, and did not wish to 
see one. Stages were good enough, they said. Some as- 
serted that since the Lord had made the world without rail- 
roads He should not be interfered with. The claims by the 
agents that the railroad would increase the value of prop- 
erty was not believed. Unprogressive people called the 
promoters liars, and were themselves dubbed "obstruction- 
ists". 

At a Council Bluff's meeting, after an agent had pleaded 
for the road, a settler arose and said : 

"My friends, I have listened to this man's railroad speech, 
and while I am free to confess that I have grave doubts as 
to the practicability of the project, yet it may be wise to give 
it a fair trial, and possibly some day we may see the locomo- 
tive coming across these prairies head and tail up like a bed- 
bug!" 



FROM CANOE TO RAILROAD. 229 

However, it must not be thought that all Iowa people 
were blind to the advantages of railroad connections. In 
1848 a railroad convention was held at Iowa City, in which 
the citizens discussed two routes — one from Davenport 
through Iowa City and Des Moines to Council Blufifs, the 
other from Dubuque by way of Iowa City to Keokuk. Con- 
gress was asked by the Legislature to aid by granting pub- 
lic land along the proposed lines. 

Davenport was the first railroad center. It had been the 
opinion that the Mississippi could not be bridged for a rail- 
road, but in 1854 the Chicago & Rock Island, having 
reached the east bank at Rock Island, began the erection of 
a structure to span the river. St. Louis was indignant, de- 
clared the bridge an infringement of rights, unconstitutional, 
and a menace to navigation and tried to have the courts in- 
tervene. But in vain. 

The bridge was finished. This was regarded as a mar- 
velous feat of engineering. 

As has been stated, the first rail on Iowa soil was laid in 
May, 1854. By the end of 1855 there were sixty-seven miles 
of track in operation in Iowa. January i, 1856, the first 
train pulled into Iowa City — the westernmost station of 
Iowa. 

In May, this year, Congress made a grant of land to assist 
railway construction. A number of roads had been planned. 
Most of them eventually were consolidated with lines east of 
the Mississippi. 

In August, 1866, the first train entered Des Moines over 
the Des Moines Valley Road. In about six months, or in 
February, 1867, a locomotive arrived at Council Blufifs. 

Steam had succeeded horses. Iowa's stage coach days 
were drawing to a close. 



230 



THE MAKING OF IOWA. 




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CHAPTER XXIX. 

IOWA's INDIAN MASSACRE. 

The settlement of Iowa was marked by singular and most 
gratifying freedom from trouble with the Indians. From 
1830, the date when at Dubuque the whites formed the first 
settlement, until the present, there has been only one bloody 
spot to stain the relations that have existed between settlers 
and Indians within Iowa's borders. 

Even before 1830 the assaults on Fort Madison furnish the 
only record of avowed hostility by the Indians against the 
whites of what is now Iowa. 

It is true that during the many years a number of whites 
— for the most part hunters, trappers and the like — were 
killed by Indians, and Indians were killed by whites, but 
these tragedies were merely what might be expected in any 
Territory. 

March 8, 1857, nearly eleven years after Iowa had be- 
come a State, brings that dreadful scene in Northwestern 
Iowa, when the Sioux surprised the isolated settlers and 
before withdrawing, killed thirty-two persons, slaughtered 
cattle, and in the light from a blazing cabin danced in ah 
their old time glee, yelling and boasting. 

The leader of the Sioux was Ink-pa-du-tah. or Scarlet 
Point, a tall, fierce Indian, sullen and treacherous. His face 
was deeply marked by smallpox. He was the brother of 
Si-dom-i-na-do-tah, the chief who wa« brutally murdered in 
January, 1854, by Henry Lott, a dissolute trader. Ink-pa- 
du-tah sought revenge. For three years he had been brood- 

231 



232 THE MAKING OF IOWA. 

ing over the death of his brother. Now he had determined 
that time was ripe. 

It was not alone the murder of Si-dom-i-na-do-tah that 
impelled the Sioux to action. Although in 1851 Sioux 
chiefs had signed a treaty giving up their claims to any 
land in the State, robber bands of these Indians continued to 
rove about in Northwestern Iowa. They asserted that they 
did not take part in the treaty, and that the land was theirs. 
They resented the progress of settlement, entered cabins, in- 
sulted women, broke furniture, and extorted from defense- 
less families food and clothing. These Sioux were not rec- 
ognized as belonging to the main nation. 

It is now the close of the winter of 1856-57, the most se- 
vere winter in the history of Iowa, and particularly hard on 
the settlers who were called upon to face it. In spite of the 
attitude of the Sioux, the settlers have been pushing on and 
on, until Dickinson, Palo Alto, and Emmet Counties con- 
tain a number of cabins. 

The line of settlement has been extended to the Minne- 
sota boundary. Here, around the beautiful lakes, hardy 
men and women have located. Claims have been taken up 
on the shores of Minnewaukon, or Spirit Lake ; Minne- 
tonka, or West Okoboji ; and East Okoboji. To-day these 
lakes are well-known summer resorts. 

The terrible, long winter has cut off the settlers from com- 
munication with the outside world, and even with one an- 
other. The families have suffered greatly. But March has 
begun, and a slight thaw has set in. Settlers are stirring 
out, seizing on the opportunity to make needful excursions. 
The snow is soft enough for the children to mold snow- 
balls. 



IOWA'S INDIAN MASSACRE. 233 

Ink-pa-du-tah and his band have spent the winter in the 
vicinity of the lakes. Near Spirit Lake are their empty 
tepees. At High Lake, southeast of the present town of 
Esthervihe, Ish-ta-ha-bah, or Sleepy-Eye, and his minor 
band have wintered, while just over the Minnesota line, at 
Springfield, now Jackson, fifteen miles from Spirit Lake, are 
twenty more Sioux huts. 

The Indians were thus distributed in readiness ^or the 
massacre. 

On the south shore of West Okoboji is the cabin of Row- 
land Gardner. Beside himself and his wife, in the family 
are Abigal (a thirteen-year-old daughter) and a little son ; a 
married daughter (Mrs. Luce), her husband, and two chil- 
dren are for the present living with the Gardners. 

The morning of the 8th of March has arrived. In the 
Gardner cabin breakfast is spread. Abigal has been help- 
ing her mother, in order to hasten the meal, so that the 
father may go to Fort Dodge while the weather permits. 
Fort Dodge is the nearest point where supplies may be ob- 
tained. 

Suddenly, almost without warning, a Sioux lifts the latch 
of the door, and stands before the two families. In a few 
gutteral words he signifies that he wants food. " He is given 
a place at the table. In a moment fourteen other braves, 
with their squaws and pappooses, appear at the threshold 
and crowd inside. They compose Ink-pa-du-tah's band, and 
Ink-pa-du-tah, with pitted face and surly eye, is with them. 

They are in bad temper. Not content with the food liber- 
ally laid before them, they wax insolent. They demand am- 
munition. One snatches at a box of gun caps ; another at- 
tempts to take from the wall a horn of powder, and when 



234 THE MAKING OF IOWA. 

Luce, the son-in-law, interferes, the Indian points a gun at 
him. 

Matters look ugly when Dr. Isaac H. Harriott and Ber- 
tell A. Snyder visit the Gardner cabin with a letter for Gard- 
ner to carry to the postofBce at Fort Dodge. Gardner says : 

'*I am not going to Fort Dodge to-day, or anywhere else. 
The Indians mean mischief, and I dare not leave my fam- 
ily." 

Harriott and Snyder laugh at him, chat with the Indians, 
and after doing a little trading return to their own cabin on 
the peninsular between East and West Okoboji. The 
Sioux remain near the Gardner cabin until noon. Then 
they go towards the point where, on the peninsular, stands 
the cabin of James H. Mattock. 

The cabins of the settlers in the community are so scat- 
tered that the Gardners decide warning should be sent out, 
to the effect that the Indians mean trouble. Luce and an- 
other man start to make the rounds, so far as possible, and 
deliver the caution. 

The messengers leave at two o'clock. In an hour the 
Gardners hear the reports of rifles from the direction of the 
Mattock cabin. Gardner slips the heavy bar into place 
across the door and tries to cheer up the frightened women. 
All anxiously wait. Mrs. Luce cries softly, thinking some- 
thing has happened to her husband. The air is full of fore- 
boding. 

Five o'clock comes and the Gardner cabin has been un- 
molested. Gardner finally unbars the door and steps out to 
look around. The sun is setting like a crimson globe. The 
atmosphere is cold and crisp, and the snow and frozen lake 
sparkle. The reeds and trees cast long shadows. Not far 



IOWA S INDIAN MASSACRE. 235 

away Gardner sees a group of dusky figures approaching. 

''The Indians are coming!" he announces, hastily re-en- 
tering the cabin. 

He is certain that all in the cabin will be killed, but he 
wants to bar the door and fight to the last. The women im- 
plore him not to resist the savages, but to meet them in a 
friendly manner, so as not to provoke them. Gardner allows 
the women to prevail, and the door is not locked. 

Nine Sioux, rifles in hand, file up to the cabin, push their 
way roughly through the doorway, and scowl at the whites. 
A brave calls for meal. Eager to please, Gardner turns to 
the bin. In a second he falls dead, shot through the back. 

The women are driven out of doors and their skulls 
smashed with gun-butts. Abigal Gardner is sitting in a 
chair, the three children clinging to her. The savages drag 
the children, one by one, from her and kill them with sticks 
of stove wood. Abigal is made prisoner. 

In the cabins on the peninsular are similar scenes of bar- 
barity and slaughter. Night falls, and the Mattock cabin 
is burning, while circling around it the Sioux indulge in a 
hideous dance of triumph. Not all the persons in the cabin 
are unconscious, and shrieks of agony can be heard. Dur- 
ing the next few days the Indians seek out other cabins, and 
kill right and left. Then, having stripped the bark from a 
tree, on the white trunk they picture the deeds, and leav- 
ing this monument as a trophy, flee, taking with them Abi- 
gal Gardner, Mrs. J. M. Thatcher, Mrs. Margaret Marble 
and Mrs. Lydia Noble. 

Mr. Thatcher, husband of one of the prisoners, had been 
absent. Mr. Noble and Mr. Marble had been killed by the 
savages. 



236 THE MAKING OF IOWA. 

Such was the Spirit Lake massacre, as it is termed. 
March lo, Morris Markham, who had been staying at the 
Thatcher cabin, but who had been away for a few days, re- 
turned to the vicinity. He reached the lakes in the night, 
and was surprised to see no hght from any house. Silence 
brooded over all. When he reached the first cabin, even 
in the darkness he knew what had happened. Retreating, 
horror stricken, he stumbled into a group of Sioux tepees, 
but was not discovered. He made all speed to Springfield, 
Minnesota, to give the alarm there. 

At this village the settlers barely had time to gather in a 
double log cabin. Several persons were overtaken and 
killed. A little boy, shot through the head, tumbled on the 
threshold of the cabin, and during the fighting which fol- 
lowed lay there moaning in pain. Inside were his mother, 
powerless to help him, and the father, badly wounded. 
Among the women in the cabin was Mrs. W. L. Church, 
whose husband was absent from the settlement. Mrs. 
Church used a gun with such good effect that she riddled 
a Sioux who peered out from behind a tree. 

The Indians, baffled, gave up the contest, and withdrew. 
The settlers harnessed oxen to a wagon and set out south- 
ward for the nearest village. 

Fort Dodge was at this time the frontier town of North- 
western Iowa. Into it rode two men, who had been asked 
by Markham to bear the news of what he had seen. They 
told a story hardly credited by the people until, on the even- 
ing of March 21, O. C. Howe, R. U. Wheelock and B. F. 
Parmenter came with blanched faces to confirm the tidings. 
They owned land in the lakes region. Three nights pre- 
vious they had arrived there to settle on their claims, and 
had seen what Markham saw. 



IOWA S INDIAN MASSACRE. 2o ( 

Fort Dodge was aroused. The next day was Sunday, 
but nevertheless a meeting was held in the brick school 
house. Volunteers to go against the Sioux were called for. 
Nearly one hundred men enrolled, and were divided into 
two companies, A and B. From Webster City and vicinity 
another company, C, was gathered. 

On March 24, the troops started from Fort Dodge, with 
teams loaded with what clothing and supplies could be ob- 
tained on such short notice, and with shot guns, muskets 
and rifles as arms. 

The commander was Major William Williams, sixty-two 
years of age. Major Williams had been connected with old 
Fort Clarke, and was now the most prominent resident in 
the town. Through all the severe march he exhibited the 
greatest fortitude and courage. 

The snow was three feet deep, and in ravines was twelve 
and fifteen feet. The distance to be traversed was over sev- 
enty miles, across the desolate, windswept prairies. It was 
a perilous proceeding. The first day out only six or seven 
miles were covered. 

The second day ten miles. The volunteers were obliged 
to precede the wagons, trample a road for a short space, 
haul the wagons over it, and pull the horses and oxen out 
of the drifts. Rivers and creeks were swift, and the ice was 
not strong enough to afiford secure support. Thus men and 
beasts waded the bitter, stinging water. Snow blindness at- 
tacked the column. Frozen feet were prevalent. Food was 
scarce. It is said that in hardship and bravery this rescue 
march out of Fort Dodge, and back, has hardly a parallel 
in the world's history. 

Yet, urged, inspired and buoyed by the indomitable major. 



238 THE MAKING OF IOWA. 

the volunteers pressed on. The march lasted eighteen days 
and nights. 

On the morning of March 31, about five or six miles 
northeast of High Lake, Emmet County, the advance guard 
saw ahead a band of what appeared to be Indians, awaiting 
assault. The soldiers approached nearer, ready to fire, when 
to their delight and astonishment they discerned the people 
were white. In the advance guard was W. L. Church. 

"Oh, boys !" he exclaimed. "There are my wife and 
babies !" 

Thus husband and wife were reunited. The party met by 
the soldiers was that from Springfield. It had been on the 
road three days and four nights. The women's clothing was 
torn to shreds and all were suffering from cold and exhaus- 
tion. They had taken the soldiers for Indians, and had pre- 
pared to sell their lives dearly. Two of the men were help- 
less from wounds. A third, John Bradshaw, had stacked 
the eight guns beside him, a little in advance of the group, 
and telling his companions to look out for each other had 
made ready to hold off the supposed savages as long as pos- 
sible. 

Brave John Bradshaw ! 

The Springfield refugees were escorted back to the Irish 
Colony, near where Emmettsburg now is, and their wants 
attended to in as thorough a manner as time and place 
would permit. 

Not far from the present town of Estherville word was 
received by the volunteers that a detachment of the regular 
army had scouted the country along the Minnesota line, and 
that the Sioux had escaped. Major Williams decided to 
send on a party to bury the dead of the lakes region. Twen- 



IOWA's INDIAN MASSACRE. 239 

ty-six heroes offered themselves for the hazardous duty. 
After enduring frightful torture from cold and hunger, they 
accomplished their purpose. Two in their number, Captain 
J. C. Johnson and William E. Burkholder, were lost on the 
prairie. Eleven years afterward their bones were found. 

The Irish Colony had been appointed the meeting place 
of the main body and the special detachment. The night 
before the union one of the worst storms known in Iowa 
prevailed. When the burial party entered the Irish Colony 
many in the detail were crazy. 

From now on the troops exerted all their strength to 
reach Fort Dodge. Their progress was impeded by a heavy 
rain that flooded the streams. This was followed by a bliz- 
zard and freeze. The mercury sank far below zero. But 
at last home and shelter were attained. All through this 
long march the soldiers had no tents ! 

The postures of the bodies found at the lakes showed that 
the victims had been killed with hardly a warning. Dr. 
Harriott seems to have been the only one who made resist- 
ance. When found he had a broken rifle, empty, in his 
hand. 

The Sioux had intended descending the Des Moines val- 
ley, raiding the settlements in their course as they swept on. 
But the promp action by the soldiers at Fort Ridgley, Min- 
nesota, and the volunteers from Fort Dodge and Webster 
City, frightened the savages and they fled westward. 

Abigal Gardner and the three women were taken with 
them. The flight led into Dakota. The prisoners were 
forced to walk and had no snow shoes. At night they were 
made to gather firewood, and put up the tepees. Mrs. 
Thatcher was ill, but no allowance was made for that. 



240 THE MAKING OF IOWA. 

Finally she became a burden. While crossing a river on a 
narrow bridge she was pushed into the water, and shot. 
Mrs. Noble angered her captors by weeping and wailing, 
and one day she, too, was killed. 

Mrs. Marble was sold to another band of Sioux, and by 
it delivered to the Indian agent at Yellow Medicine River, 
Minnesota. Abigal had given up hope of anything but a 
life among the Sioux, when finally she was purchased by 
Sioux from .the mission at Yellow Medicine River. The 
price paid for her was two horses, twelve blankets, two kegs 
of powder, twenty pounds of tobacco, thirty-two yards of 
blue squaw cloth, thirty-seven and one-half yards of calico 
and ribbon. The great Sioux chief, Ma-to-we-ken, gave 
her a fine headdress. 

In December, 1883, nearly twenty-seven years after the 
massacre, Abigal, now a woman, once more stood within 
the walls of the old Gardner cabin on the shore of Minne- 
tonka. 

The Sioux never were punished for their deed. To-day 
a monument stands at Okoboji, and a pile of stones marks 
the burial place of the Gardner family, the two serving to 
emphasis the significance of the little log cabin, preserved 
near at hand. 



CHAPTER XXX. 



IOWA AND SLAVERY. 



Iowa always has been a ''free state". Slavery never had 
a foothold here. But during many years preceding the 
Civil War the slavery question was a burning issue in Iowa 
politics. 

Adjoining Iowa on the south lies Missouri, and Missouri 
was a "slave state." When Missouri was preparing for ad- 
mission into the Union it was known that her people desired 
to keep slaves. There was a sentiment in Congress against 
slavery so far north, and a law was passed prohibiting slav- 
ery in that part of the Louisiana Purchase, save Missouri, 
lying north of latitude 36 deg. 30 min. This law was termed 
the Missouri Compromise. 

But this action created intense feeling, which grew so 
strong that in 1854 the South and the slavery interests were 
enabled to secure the repeal of the law. 

The question of slavery or freedom was now left to be 
disposed of by the voters of the various States and Terri- 
tories, and the Kansas troubles increased. This was termed 
squatter sovereignty. When Kansas was settled the anti- 
slavery people did all in their power to obtain a majority in 
the population ; the slavery supporters tried to prevent this. 
Thus Missourians and others holding slavery to be right 
used every endeavor to keep "Free Soilers" from passing 
into Kansas. "Border rufhans" guarded the borders of 
Missouri, trying to turn back the tide. 

241 



242 THE MAKING OF IOWA. 

Southwestern Iowa was the gateway into Kansas, and on 
Iowa's southwestern border occurred many exciting scenes. 
As soon as the Missouri Compromise was repealed, hun- 
dreds of slavery men were sent into Kansas, in order to 
take part in the election of 1855, and secure a Legislature 
composed principally of men in favor of slavery. ''Border 
ruffians" invaded Kansas, abusing the "Free Soilers" and 
intimidating them, so that outrages amounting in many 
cases to murder, were of frequent event. 

James Grimes was now governor of Iowa. The situation 
required a firm, energetic man at the head of State affairs, 
and Governor Grimes was the right person in the right 
place. In his inaugural address in December, 1854, he 
said: 

"The removal of that great landmark of freedom, the 
Missouri Compromise line, when it had been sacredly ob- 
served until slavery has acquired every inch of soil south 
of it, has presented the aggressive character of that system 
broadly before the country. It has forced upon this country 
an issue between free labor, political equality and manhood 
on the one hand ; and on the other, slave labor, political 
degradation and wrong. It becomes the State of Iowa — 
the only free child of the Missouri Compromise — to let the 
world know that she values the blessings that compromise 
has secured to her, and that she never will consent to be- 
come a party to the nationalization of slavery." 

Governor Grimes did all he could to aid the people who 
were desirous of crossing into Kansas through Iowa. 

But although Iowa was a "free state", there have been 
slaves within her limits. Before she was a Territory, and 
while she was attached to Michigan and to Wisconsin, some 



IOWA AND SLAVERY. 



243 



of the whites among her earliest citizens possessed blacks 
whom they had brought into the new country. 

In 1839 an important decision in a slave case was handed 
down by the Iowa Supreme Court. In 1834 a negro named 
Ralph had come into this region from Missouri. He had 




GOVERNOR JAMES W. GRIMES. 



the written consent of his master, and was to send back 
money with which to purchase his freedom. Ralph worked 
hard on a little mineral lot just west of Dubuque, but was 
unable to earn enough, within the time set, for his purpose. 
Two kidnappers from Virginia heard of the negro, ascer- 



244 THE MAKING OF IOWA. 

tained that he had been a slave, and wrote to his master 
offering for $ioo to seize Ralph and bring him to Missouri. 

The offer was accepted. The kidnappers lost no time in 
laying hands on the colored man. The sheriff hustled him 
into a wagon, and he was taken to Bellevue. Here the 
prisoner was to be put aboard a steamboat for St. Louis. 
Poor Ralph saw himself once more a chattel in a slave state. 

In the field next to the one where Ralph had been appre- 
hended an Irishman named Alex Butterworth had been 
plowing. He heard of the whole proceeding, and his blood 
boiled. The kidnappers had been afraid to take Ralph to 
Dubuque, because they knew the temper of the settlers at 
that village. Butterworth hastened there, and had no diffi- 
culty in getting a writ, and an officer to serve it. The kid- 
nappers were stopped at Bellevue, and with their charge 
were brought to Dubuque. 

The outcome of the trial was, the Supreme Court decided, 
that so long as Ralph came into a "free state" with the con- 
sent of his master, he could not be seized while living here. 
So Ralph was released. 

Among Iowa's settlers were many persons from the 
South. Not all of these had been slave owners, but they 
had lived in a community where slavery was considered only 
the natural order of things. Thus it came about that not 
only were there people in Iowa who openly favored slavery, 
but there were others who by their passiveness encouraged 
this sentiment. 

In 1850 the South and the slave interests succeeded in 
putting through Congress what was termed the Fugitive 
Slave Law. By this law a person of negro blood appre- 
hended in any State or Territory on charge of being a fugi- 



lOVVA AND SLAVERY. 245 

tive from his owner was denied trial by jury, or his own testi- 
mony before a court. Courts were required to surrender 
fhe fugitive to the claimant, on the owner's word. In ab- 
sence of a court, special commissioners were to be ap- 
pointed, whose fee, if they decided in favor of the claimant, 
should be double what it would be otherwise. Further- 
more, it was made a crime to aid a fugitive, and all citizens 
were ''commanded" to assist in the execution of the law. 
Officers making arrests might order citizens to help them. 

This law created intense consternation among colored 
people, and excited the greatest indignation at the North. 
The passage of escaped slaves through the ''free states" was 
now a hazardous matter. The "free states" no longer of- 
fered a refuge to the fugitives. Professional kidnappers 
penetrated everywhere, for the seizure of slaves was made 
a most lucrative business. 

Strange to us as it may seem, in Iowa were to be found 
a number of persons who either were in favor of the Fugi- 
tive Slave Law, or did not frankly oppose it. The old tradi- 
tions, inherited through long association with the South, 
caused these citizens to disapprove of the "Abolitionists". 
"Nigger stealers," the more rampant termed the persons 
who would assist slaves to freedom. 

An agent of the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society ar- 
rived in Iowa to deliver lectures. He talked to an unsympa- 
thetic audience in Clinton. Then his friends decided that 
he ought to appear in Camanche, Clinton County. So 
handbills were printed advertising the lecture, and the Bap- 
tist Church was engaged for the meeting. 

But on the evening appointed, when the lecturer and a 
companion reached the church not a light was visible in it. 
They looked up the sexton. 



246 THE MAKING OF IOWA. 

"What's the matter with the church?" they asked. 

"The church is all right," he said, gruffly. 

"But it's dark. Didn't you know I am to speak there 
this evening?" inquired the lecturer. 

"Yes, I heard about it," replied the sexton, "but I'm not 
going to light up for any black Abolitionist — not if I know 
myself." 

The two men then went to the hotel. There, instead of 
finding sympathy, they were roughly treated, and only hasty 
flight prevented an application of tar and feathers. 

In 1855, in Burlington, lived Edward James, a quiet man, 
who had been a surgeon in the regular army, and was a well- 
known scientist and traveler. He was an avowed "Aboli- 
tionist". In those days it was not pleasant to have such a 
title, even in Iowa. Prejudice against the negro was great, 
and although a person might look upon slavery as cruel, yet 
the thought of giving the negro privileges like a white man 
was obnoxious. 

One day in June Dr. James had driven into Burlington 
early in the morning, with a negro at his side. He had 
crossed the river on the ferry, but on the Illinois shore was 
stopped by two slave hunters, or kidnappers. These men 
alleged that the negro was named Dick, and w^as a fugitive 
slave from Clarke County, Missouri. They demanded that 
he be surrendered to them, as agents for one Rutherford, 
said to be Dick'-s owner. They had bowie knives and pis- 
tols, and were very rough. 

As a result. Dr. James and the negro were conveyed back 
to Burlington, and the two Missourians looked for a lawyer. 

In the meantime quite a crowd surrounded the carriage. 
The people stormed and threatened, and jibeB at the white 



IOWA AND SLAVERY. 247 

man and the negro. But Dr. James, with white hair and 
wrinkled face, sat there unmoved. Both he and his com- 
panion seemed wholly unconcerned. 

The anti-slavery people also were aroused. The sight of 
a strong, healthy man, black though he was, seized by a 
pair of human blood-hounds just as he was about to gain 
liberty, awoke a spirit of resistance which had not before 
appeared. It was decided that if the court did not free Dick, 
he would be rescued by force. Governor Grimes' home was 
in Burhngton. The energetic executive notified his brother 
and ah friends of the negro to be present at the trial, in order 
to see that the alleged fugitive obtained whatever assistance 
he needed. 

In a letter to Mrs. Grimes, then in Maine, the Governor 
wrote that in all ways at his command he intended to thwart 
the efforts of the slave hunters. 

Trial was postponed for two weeks. Before the case came 
up, the excitement grew so great that personal encounters 
took place between the friends and enemies of the negro. 

Then, when the day of trial arrived, the son of the Mis- 
sourian who claimed the negro was on hand. Lo and be- 
hold, the minute he saw the prisoner he promptly swore that 
this was not Dick, and that he had never set eyes on him 
before. The slave hunters had made a mistake. 

Dick was discharged, and went his way to liberty. 

He was given back a huge horse pistol which had been 
taken from him, and a throng of cheering people escorted 
him to the ferry. A guard was provided to see him safe 
on the railway train, and it is supposed he reached Canada 
all right. 

An institution of these days was the "Underground Rail- 



248 THE MAKING OF lOWA. 

road", or ''Grapevine Route". The Fugitive Slave Law made 
it difficult and dangerous to openly harbor escaped slaves, 
or to assist them on their way. So routes were established 
through Iowa, along which fugitives were passed from hand 
to hand until delivered to friends in Illinois. The great ma- 
jority of the fugitives came by way of Missouri. Tabor, in 
the southwestern part of the State, was one station for re- 
ceiving escaping slaves. The "Underground Railroad" went 
through Des Moines, Grinnell, Iowa City, West Liberty, 
Springdale, DeWitt and Low Moor, and reached the Missis- 
sippi at Clinton. 

Here the negroes were allowed to rest a short time. Then 
they were taken across the river in skififs, put in a wagon, 
and sent on to Union Grove, Illinois. Finally they arrived 
at Lake Michigan, where friends procured transportation 
for them across the lake to Canada. 

It was while acting as an agent for some of the branches 
of the "Underground Railroad" that Dr. James was appre- 
hended. He had been too bold. 

When a party of slaves came over the border into Iowa 
from Missouri, word was dispatched ahead, to prepare the 
agents for work. The message would read something like 
this : 

"By to-morrow evening's mail you will receive two vol- 
umes of the 'Irrepressible Conflict', bound in black. After 
perusal please forward, and oblige." 

The text of the communication signified to those in the 
secret the number in the party, the sex, and other details. 

The fugitives were taken from point to point in wagons. 
Dark, stormy nights were preferred for the operation. Sta- 
tions were ten to fifteen miles apart. During the day the 



IOWA AND SLAVERY. 249 

negroes were concealed in garrets and barns and cellars. 
At Springdale, Cedar County, stood the Maxon house, the 
cellar of which was a famous hiding place. 

The men employed in the service of the ''Underground 
Railroad" were resolute and brave. The work was attended 




to with no little peril. In every community there were per- 
sons only too glad to inform against them, for a reward. 
In the operations of the railway the Quakers were a great 
force. Quakers, the world over, ever have been known as 
lovers of liberty, and when they were moved to aid the poor 



250 THE MAKING OF IOWA. 

blacks to escape from slavery they proved a power in the 
work. 

The first constitution of Iowa State contained, in a num- 
ber of sections, the word "white", limiting certain privileges 
to the white race. Only whites were allowed to vote, and 
to appear in court to testify. Not until after the war, and 
until after right to vote had been conferred on the negro 
race, was provision made for extending the common school 
system to ''all the youth in the State". The question of edu- 
cating the negro in the same school with the white child, 
caused a bitter fight, not only in the Legislature, but among 
the people at large. 

Now all men are equal, not only in Iowa, but in the whole 
United States. 

While thinking of slavery agitation in Iowa, we must not 
forget that Abraham Lincoln once made a speech in Bur- 
lington. In 1858 Lincoln and Stephen A. Douglas were 
rival candidates for senatorship, and made a famous cam- 
paign. They spoke in Illinois along the Mississippi. Be- 
tween dates Lincoln stopped in Burlington, October 9, and 
delivered a short address in Grimes' Hall. 

In the summer of 1859 Lincoln visited western Iowa, 
also, for the purpose of looking up some wild land he owned 
there. He came to Council Bluffs by stage. Although it 
was June, the weather had been so rainy and disagreeable 
that the roads were deep with mud. When Lincoln de- 
scended from the stage at Council Bluffs he was well cov- 
ered with soil. 

His fame as a speaker and a thinker had preceded him, 
and when the citizens of the town heard that he had ar- 
rived, a reception was planned for him. It was given at the 
house of a banker. 



IOWA AND SLAVERY. 251 

Council Bluffs was then little more than a frontier set- 
tlement, and everything was quite rude and primitive. But 
Lincoln was not prepared for even the social demands of a 
western outpost. When he appeared on Council Bluffs 
streets his trousers were tucked into cowhide boots, and his 
suit, of a cheap blue linen fabric, was much bespattered and 
wrinkled. 

At the reception the trousers were outside of the boots. 
The very toes of these boots had been blackened by a boy at 
the hotel, but the major portion of the leather was red and 
rusty. Some of the mud had been removed from his cloth- 
ing. Yet he was hardly in garb adapted to his surroundings. 

Many people wondered if this really could be the famous 
Lincoln, who had debated with Douglas. A few could nol 
repress smiles at his awkwardness. His long arms, with 
their enormous hands, swung by his sides just a though 
they were on hinges at the shoulders. Lincoln seemed not 
to know what to do with them. His rough boots and his 
homely features added to the unfavorable impression. 

Also, he wouldn't talk to the women. He was afraid 
of them. When the society ladies tried to engage him in 
conversation, he answered in monosyllables, and acted like 
a school-boy. 

However, when a public meeting was held for him at a 
hall, following the night of the reception, he presented a 
very different appearance. He spoke from the platform, on 
the issues of the day, and was much applauded for his dry 
wit and his telling words. 

Thus both eastern and western Iowa had an opportunity 
to see Lincoln before he was called to take charge of the 
nation in its time of need. 




OIvD JOHN BROWN. 
252 



CHAPTER XXXI. 

OLD JOHN BROWN. 

While Iowa was aflame with slavery agitation, and Kan- 
sas was reddened with the blood flowing in civil war be- 
tween "Border Ruffians" and ''Abolitionists", or "Free State 
Men"; while squad after squad of emigrants hastened 
across the Iowa prairies to Tabor, where they lay under 
arms waiting a favorable opportunity to slip onto the dis- 
puted grounds ; while slavery supporters were using their 
best efforts to secure Kansas for the South, and hints were 
abroad that Kansas having been made a slave State, Iowa's 
turn would come next, there appeared in Iowa John Brown 
— Osawatomie Brown, he was called. To-day he is better 
known by the simple title, "Old John Brown." 

John Brown was a familiar figure in the Kansas troubles. 
He had gone to Kansas — the "bleeding ground" — from 
New York, burning to take an active part in the struggle 
to establish freedom in the Territory. 

Six sons had preceded him. The outrages committed 
against them had speedily brought the gray-haired father to 
the rescue. When one of the sons was murdered, another 
crazed, and two dragged about in chains, John Brown was 
filled with but a single thought. He wanted revenge. He 
determined to bring about the overthrow of the slave power. 

Brown had a log cabin near Osawatomie, Kansas. While 
he was absent in pursuit of a band that held his two sons 
as prisoners, the village was attacked by "border ruffians" 
^nd destroyed. 

253 



254 THE MAKING OF IOWA. 

It has been said that John Brown was insane. Surely he 
had cause enough. 

On a fine October day in 1856 a traveler on mule back, 
and leading a horse, entered the little Quaker village of 
West Branch, Cedar County, Iowa, and halted at the tavern 
"Traveler's Rest". James Townsend, a worthy Quaker, was 
tavern keeper. He came to the door to welcome the guest. 

The stranger, instead of giving his name outright, as he 
stiffly dismounted, said : 

''Sir, have you heard of John Brown, of Kansas ?" 

Certainly Townsend had. All the Quakers had. Nearly 
everybody in the country had. The landlord in reply calmly 
took a piece of chalk from his waistcoat pocket, and marked 
a large "X" on Brown's broad-brimmed hat, on the back 
of his coat, on the horse and on the mule, as token that 
nothing was to be charged for entertainment. Then he said : 

"Friend, put the animals in that stable, and walk into the 
house. Thee is surely welcome." 

In the tavern the two men had a good, long talk. What 
they said is not recorded, but beyond doubt Brown told his 
host of afifairs in Kansas, and in return received much use- 
ful information concerning the progress of anti-slavery sen- 
timent in Iowa. The "Traveler's Rest" was tamed for its 
buckwheat cakes and sorghum, and while eating these deli- 
cacies old Osawatomie probably found opportunity to 
gather important knowledge. 

West Branch was near the route of the "Underground 
Railroad", so that James Townsend possessed accurate and 
fresh news regarding the course of events. 

As has been told, Tabor, in Fremont County, was an im- 
portant point during the Kansas contest. It also was the 



OLD JOHN BROWN. 255 

first "Underground Railroad" station for fugitives from 
Missouri. At Tabor tlie "Free Soilers" halted ere ad- 
vancing to the scene of battle. Tabor at times looked like 
a town in state of siege. Wagons of the emigrants were 
grouped or "parked' in the public square, with the stars and 
stripes floating from the center. The corners were protected 
by cannon, while the "Free Soil" settlers, armed, patrolled 
the lines. The sight of large bodies of men drilling on the 
common heightened the efTect. 

All kinds of munitions of war were conveyed into Tabor, 
so that after crossing into Kansas the "Free State Men'^ 
should not lack for means with which to defend themselves 
and their property. 

In August, 1857, Brown appeared at Tabor, with a com- 
munication for the Rev. John Todd. In August, 1856, the 
Massachusetts-Kansas State Committee had sent to Kansas 
two cannon, two hundred Sharp's rifles, sabers, cartridges 
and clothing for use by the anti-slavery settlers of that Ter- 
ritory. These articles had gotten as far as Tabor. There 
they had been stored in the Todd barn. 

After leaving West Branch, John Brown visited the East, 
and the Massachusetts Society had willingly given him per- 
mis:>ion to take the rifles from Tabor. An order to this ef- 
fect he now handed to the Rev. Mr. Todd. 

Brown had a plan to lead a company of well-drilled men 
into Kansas against the "border rufiBans", and free the Ter- 
ritory from the rule of slavery. While in the East he had 
met Hugh P'orbes, a fencer and drill master, and had en- 
gaged him to instruct the recruits. Forbes came to Tabor 
with his employer. Brown's scheme included an insurrec- 
tion of the slaves of the slave States, so that slavery people 



256 THE MAKING OF IOWA. 

would be obliged to attend to their own affairs, and let 
Kansas alone. 

With Brown at Tabor was his son Owen. Forbes proved 
to be a vain, worthless man, and returned East. Owen and 
his father had learned considerable from the drill master, 
but only a very few Tabor citizens knew of the prepara- 
tions. The drilling took place in the house of Jonas Jones. 

Brown enlisted a number of followers, who came from 
Kansas and reported to him at Tabor. Towards the last of 
November the party, in wagons drawn by mules, left Tabor, 
and after a hard trip across the prairies reached Springdale, 
Cedar County, the last of December. 

Springdale is a Quaker settlement not far from West 
Branch. In 1857 it was a thriving, peaceful little place. It 
had been recommended to Brown during his previous stop 
at West Branch. 

John Brown had now abandoned his Kansas invasion 
project. He was bent on a greater task. While on the ride 
from Tabor to Springdale he had discussed an invasion of 
Virginia itself, the hotbed of slavery. He held that an up- 
rising of the slaves there would be successful, because of the 
mountainous character of the country. He also was think- 
ing of establishing a military school at Ashtabula, Ohio, 
where his forces could study for their duties. 

He had intended to stay at Springdale only a few days. 
But he found it difficult to dispose of the teams. Money 
was scarce. He decided to spend the winter among the 
Quakers of Iowa. 

The Brown party numbered eleven. One in it was a 
negro. The company was an interesting one, and quite a 
boon to the village. John Henrie Kagi was a journalist and 



OLD JOHN BROWN. 257 

a stenographer; Aaron D. Stephens — enlisted as C. Whip- 
ple — had been in the army, and had resisted an officer who 
was brutally beating a soldier ; Richard Realf was a poet ; 
John Edwin Cook was not only a poet, and handsome, but 
was a deadly shot. All the men were brave as could be. 

John Brown was housed at the residence of John H. 
Painter, a kind, hospitable Quaker, and one of the founders 
of the settlement. The rest of the band had quarters at the 
dwelling of William Maxon, about three miles north of the 
village. Maxon was not a Quaker, but it was thought best 
to avert suspicion, as much as possible, from the sect. The 
Maxon cellar, it will be remembered, was a hiding place for 
fugitive slaves. 

John Brown and his man remained in Springdale until 
spring. They drilled, indulged in athletic exercises calcu- 
lated to make them quick and strong, and studied tactics. 
Evenings they held debates, mock legislatures, and other 
programs of amusements and instruction. They also made 
calls. The eldest in the party was only thirty, the youngest 
was eighteen. They were engaged in a dangerous and ro- 
mantic life. So it is no wonder that love sprang up between 
several of the visitors and the pretty Quaker maidens. 
Springdale people not in the secret thought their guests 
were preparing to return to the Kansas conflict. 

With tears and heartfelt farewells the Quakers saw the 
Brown conspirators depart. Before going the members of 
the party wrote their names on the white wall of the Maxon 
parlor. For many years, even after the building was a de- 
serted ruin, the writing could still be deciphered. Two new 
recruits, George B. Gill and Steward Taylor, of Springdale, 
accompanied the expedition. Edwin and Barclay Coppoc, 



258 



THE MAKING OF IOWA. 




OLD JOHN P.ROWN. 259 

sons of one of the oldest Quaker residents, Ann Coppoc, 
enlisted, but did not at this time take their leave. 

Thus John Brown went away from Springdale. He post- 
poned his descent upon Virginia, and for the present his 
men separated. 

But again the relentless old enthusiast traversed Iowa. 
Again Springdale people saw him. He had been back to 
Kansas, and at Christmas-tide, 1858, a slave by the name 
of Jim slipped over the Missouri border to Brown's camp, 
and implored his aid. Jim said himself and some fellow 
slaves w^ere about to be torn from their families and sold 
south. They wanted to escape. 

Without losing time, John Brown and his followers made 
a daring raid into Missouri. They met with opposition, but 
in spite of it rescued eleven slaves and bore them into Ne- 
braska. In the foray, a slave owner, about to fire upon a 
division of the party, was shot and killed. The whole coun- 
try rang with the boldness of John Brown. 

Then came the flight over the "Underground Railroad" 
through Iowa. In February, 1859, the refugees and their 
escort reached Tabor. The negro members now numbered 
twelve, for a child had been born since the escape from Mis- 
souri. An old school house was placed at the disposal of 
Brown by the Tabor citizens. On Sunday Brown requested 
that thanks be given in church for the preservation of him- 
self and men, and the rescue of the slaves. A public meet- 
ing was called for the next day. 

John Brown had begun to speak at this meeting, when he 
perceived the presence of a stranger whom he suspected of 
being a Missouri slave owner. Old Osawatomie said he 
must decline to talk unless this man withdrew. The man 
remained and Brown left the hall. 



260 THE MAKING OF lOWA. 

Tabor people were not wholly in sympathy with him, this 
time. They had learned that he had taken slaves from own- 
ers by force, and that one slave owner had been killed. Ta- 
bor, although strongly opposed to slavery, did not approve 
of such a course. 

Thus John Brown and his party set out again on their 
march eastward, feeling that they had not been well treated 
at the Fremont County town. 

Ofhcers of the law were now keen on the trail of Old 
John Brown. Rewards were oiTered by the State of Mis- 
souri and by the United States for his arrest. Death was 
to be his penalty. Yet he steadily pressed on. 

Following the "Underground Railroad", the company 
reached Grinnell, February 20. Here J. B. Grinnell fur- 
nished shelter. The slaves were concealed in the barn, 
while the escort sat at the Grinnell fireside. In five days all 
were at Springdale, with the United States marshal hot on 
the scent. 

At Iowa City lived W. P. Clark. Kagi and Spencer, of 
the escort under Brown, donned hunting coats, and, dis- 
guised as sportsmen, walked to Iowa City, and sought the 
services of Clark. With the assistance of Grinnell, he suc- 
ceeded in procuring a freight car for use by Brown. Early 
in March the negroes were hurried across the country to 
West Liberty and loaded into the car. Straw had been 
spread on the floor. Brown, Kagi and Stephens, heavily 
armed with rifles and revolvers, guarded the operation. The 
fugitives shivered in the raw air. The little baby, who had 
been named John Brown, cried loudly. 

When the passenger train from the west came in, the 
freight car, with Brown and the negroes locked inside, was 



OLD JOHN BROWN. 261 

coupled on. Kagi and Stephens entered a coach. Away the 
slaves were whirled to liberty, for in a short time they had 
crossed the border at Detroit into Canada. 

Onge more John Brown was seen in Iowa. There are 
reports of a visit by him to his former haunts in Cedar 
County, but probably his last stay in the State was at Tabor, 
in September, 1859 — less than two months before the affair 
at Harper's Ferry. He came on Sunday to the house of 
Jonas Jones. In taking leave that evening, he said : 

''Good-bye, Mr. Jones. I do not say where I am going, 
but you will hear from me. There has been enough said 
about bleeding Kansas. I intend to make a bloody spot at 
another point, and carry the war into Africa." 

Before this, Edwin and Barclay Coppoc, awaiting word at 
Springdale, had received their summons and had gone. In 
July Brown had written them from the East, telling them 
to join him at once. 

"Mother, we are going to Ohio," said Barclay. 

''Ohio !" exclaimed the woman. "I believe you are going 
with old Brown. When you get the halters round your 
necks think of my words." 

But the Coppocs went, despite their mother's tears and 
warnings. Then, in the middle of October, came the news 
to Springdale that a crazy old man — so the paper styled 
him — with twenty followers, had attacked the Government 
arsenal at Harper's Ferry, and had defied the troops. The 
story of John Brown's rash deed, of his defeat and capture, 
is well known in history. 

Of the Iowa men who enlisted at Springdale, Taylor was 
shot and killed ; Edwin Coppoc was captured and hanged ; 
Gill was not present at the conflict; Barclay Coppoc es- 



262 THE MAKING OF IOWA. 

caped, and after an exciting flight over the mountains of 
Maryland and Pennsylvania, arrived home in Springdale 
December 17. He was almost starved, and so exhausted 
that, although the officers were closely pursuing him, he 
was unable to go farther until he had obtained rest and food. 

Night after night the Sprindale people maintained armed 
watch around his quarters. A signal was arranged by which 
the citizens could be summoned to resist any attempt to 
arrest him. 

In January, John Painter received from a horseman, sent 
from Des Moines, a message signed "A Friend," saying that 
an offlcial from Virginia was at the capitol after a requisition 
for Barclay Coppoc. The first requisition was faulty. A 
second was secured. The sherifif of Cedar County was com- 
manded to apprehend the fugitive. 

This the sherifif had no intention of doing. He went to 
Springdale, and in a loud voice inquired of everybody he 
met the whereabouts of Barclay. 

'T want to arrest him,'' said the sherifif. 

Of course no one told him where the man was. So the 
sherifif made report to Des Moines, gravely stating that 
evidently Barclay Coppoc was not in Cedar County. 

It was high time Coppoc escaped. One night, in disguise, 
he made his way out of the State, and soon reached Canada. 
Here he was safe. 



CHAPTER XXXII. 

SOME IOWA WAR SCENES. 

June I, 1846, while the people of Iowa Territory were 
deep in the discusion of the question of Statehood, there 
came to them a call to arms. War with Mexico had broken 
out, and the President of the United States had issued a 
call for fifty thousand volunteers. Iowa Territory was asked 
to raise a regiment, and on this day Governor James Clarke 
presented a proclamation stating what Iowa was expected 
to do. 

The news set the citizens aflame with patriotism. In vari- 
ous towns mass meetings were held, at which burning 
speeches were made, and glowing resolutions passed sup- 
porting the Government, and pledging help. Songs were 
composed. Men rushed to enlist. So far as spirit went, 
the days of 1846 were not different from those of 1898. 
Iowa, of course, was not so well populated as now. 

There was such eagerness to enroll in the regiment that 
June 26 it was announced in the press of the Territory that 
already not only had the necessary ten companies been 
formed, but that there were two extra ones — making the 
number twelve. Des Moines County had raised two com- 
panies ; Lee County, two ; Van Buren, two ; Muscatine, 
one ; Louisa, one ; Washington, one ; Dubuque, one ; 
Johnson, one, and Linn, one. 

The command of the regiment was offered by Governor 
Clarke to ex-Governor John Chambers. Governor Clarke, 

263 



264 THE MAKING OF IOWA. 

not knowing that ex-Governor Chambers was in poor 
health, paid a visit to him, for the purpose of making the 
tender. But the former Territorial executive was too fee- 
ble to accept the honor. 

This regiment, however, never was summoned into serv- 
ice. Had it been required, it would have given good ac- 
count of itself, as Iowa regiments always have. 

July 1 6, this year, a separate company of infantry was 
mustered in at Fort Atkinson, and was stationed there. 
This company, like the regiment, had enlisted for twelve 
months, unless sooner discharged. 

If Iowa troops as an Iowa organization did not serve in 
action in the Mexican War, Company K, Fifteenth United 
States Infantry, proved of what stuff Iowa men are made. 

The Fifteenth Infantry was recruited from the central 
United States. Ohio furnished six companies ; Michigan, 
two ; Wisconsin, one ; Iowa, one. Almost all of Company 
K was from Iowa, the majority of the men being enrolled 
from points on the eastern border. 

Edwin Guthrie, of Fort Madison, was captain. He died 
from wounds received in battle. Frederick Mills, leading 
lawyer of Burlington, was a major in the regiment, and was 
killed at Cherubusco. 

Major Mills' horse became unmanageable, and ran away, 
leaping a wide ditch and bearing him right into the midst 
of the Mexicans, to his death. 

Company K reported at Vera Cruz, Mexico, July lo, 
1847, and served in many battles, winning much glory and 
credit. 

So the part Iowa took in the fighting was sustained with 
gallantry. 



SOME IOWA WAR SCENES. 265 

While hostilities with Mexico were in progress, the Mor- 
mons were crossing Iowa. In June, 1846, Captain James 
Allen, of the First Dragoons, arrived at Mt. Pisgah, to pro- 
cure a battalion of infantry from the Mormons. From Mt. 
Pisgah he went to Council Blufifs — or, rather, to the site 
now occupied by Council Bluffs — and interviewed the Mor- 
mon leaders. 

In case the Mormons willingly furnished troops, the Gov- 
ernment indicated that the pilgrims would be allowed to 
choose land in the Salt Lake Valley, and settle there un- 
opposed. 

Brigham Young was prompt to seize on the opportu- 
nity, and issued an address to his people : 

"If you want to go where you can worship God according 
to the dictates of your conscience, we must raise a bat- 
talion." 

The Mormons understood. Captain Allen had not the 
slightest difficulty in securing five companies of one hundred 
men each. On July 19 the battalion held a ball, to signalize 
the farewell, and on the next day the start from Council 
Bluffs was made. 

Eighty women and children accompanied the battaHon 
to Fort Leavenworth. Several elders also went along. At 
the fort the Mormon soldiers received arms and clothing, 
and each was given forty dollars. The money they sent 
back for the use of their families. 

Then, with the remainder of the army division, they set 
forth on a long march across the plains, westward, bound for 
the scene of war. In a short time they demonstrated that 
Mormons can endure most bravely. 

We now pass to the Civil War. April 16, 1861, four days 



266 THE MAKING OF IOWA. 

after the first shot of the struggle had been fired, a telegram 
was received at Davenport. It was from Simon Cameron, 
Secretary of War, and read : 

''Call made on you by to-night's mail for one regiment 
of militia for immediate service." 

The dispatch was addressed to the governor. 

At this time Samuel J. Kirkwood was the chief execu- 
tive of the State of Iowa. ''The old war governor" is the 
title now popularly awarded to him. His residence was at 
Iowa City, where he spent the time not required at Des 
Moines, the capital. In 1861 Davenport was the nearest 
point, having telegraph service, to Iowa City, and some 
way must be found by which the message could be conveyed 
quickly to its destination. 

Colonel Vandever, a well-known resident of Davenport, 
volunteered to carry the dispatch to Governor Kirkwood, 
and immediately started. Arrived at Iowa City, he hired 
a team, and drove to the farm on which the governor lived. 
He found Mr. Kirkwood clad in homespun clothes, and 
working in the field. 

Governor Kirkwood read the message carefully. Then 
he said, musingly : 

"Why, the President wants a whole regiment of men ! 
Do you suppose I can raise so many as that, Mr. Van- 
dever?" 

But within a few days not only one but ten regiments 
were ofifered the governor. He was agreeably surprised. 

There was no lack of volunteers from Iowa, but there 
was great lack of means whereby they might be clothed and 
armed. Governor Kirkwood was equal to the emergency. 
He was a man of the most pronounced loyalty, and un- 



SOME IOWA WAR SCENES. 



267 







268 THE MAKING OF IOWA. 

daunted energy. Ere war had broken out he had visited 
President-elect Lincoln, at Springfield, Illinois, in January, 
1 86 1. He saw him again at Washington. In one of the 
interviews President Lincoln asked : 

''Well, governor, what can I do for your State?" 

*'I have not come to find out what you can do for Iowa, 
Mr. President," replied the sturdy governor, ''but I want 
to know what Iowa can do for you." 

The approach of war found Governor Kirkwood sadly 
embarrassed by scarcity of money in the State treasury. 
The financial panic of 1857 had left Iowa poor. When it 
came to a question of equipping troops the governor was 
perplexed. The guns in the hands of the militia were in 
bad condition. The supply was very limited, even including 
the old, almost useless, pieces. 

In addition to arms and food, shelter and clothing must be 
secured for the soldiers. In order to afford these Governor 
Kirkwood pledged his property, his earnings and his per- 
sonal bonds, and borrowed money in this way. He was 
nobly supported by a number of citizens who told him to 
draw on them for whatever amounts he required, and they 
would take their payments when they could get them and 
not inconvenience the State. Iowa banks notified the gov- 
ernor that they would honor his drafts, if by so doing the 
soldiers could be fed and clothed. 

The transaction of all the details of the hour fell on Gov- 
ernor Kirkwood's shoulders, for he had no aides, no staff, 
and at first not even a private secretary. 

"Give us muskets — muskets !" came the call from all quar- 
ters of the State. The governor had none to give. 

"Send us arms," he wrote, in despair, to Secretary Cam- 



SOME IOWA WAR SCENES. 269 

eron, April 29. *'I ask for nothing but arms and ammimi- 
tion. We have the men to use them. Three regiments are 
waiting, and five thousand guns are required at once." 

May 6 the First Regiment of Iowa Infantry was ordered 
into camp at Keokuk. The Government thought that this 
one regiment was enough, but Governor Kirkwood was so 
besieged with offers of other companies that, without wait- 
ing for permission from the War Department, he accepted 
another thousand men. This was the Second Regiment. 
It, too, assembled at Keokuk. 

Neither of the regiments had arms. Governor Kirkwood 
sent more telegrams to headquarters, beseeching that guns 
be sent. Finally, in August, he went to Washington to 
plead in person for munitions of war. 

On his own responsibility, and at his own risk, the gov- 
ernor authorized the Hon. Ezekiel Clark to purchase in 
Chicago cloth for fifteen hundred uniforms. But not a yard 
of cloth could be found in all that city. The demand had 
been so great. Promptly Samuel Merrill ofifered to con- 
tract for cloth in Boston, and take his pay as the State was 
best able to afford. Mr. Merrill's kindness came in time 
of much need. The women of Iowa turned to and sewed 
hundreds of garments and haversacks, and prepared other 
articles of equipment. Everywhere in the State the loyal 
women rallied to the cause. The cloth of the first uniforms 
was gray. The Government refused to recognize the color, 
because the Confederates were wearing it. So the gray 
gave place to the Union blue. 

It is not the purpose of this book to follow the career of 
the Iowa troops in the war. No soldiers were braver, and 
none attained higher rank in public estimation. The num- 
ber of men enhsted during the war was 78,059. 



270 THE MAKING OF IOWA. 

The days of the Civil War were anxious times in Iowa. 
News did not travel through the State as fast as it does 
now. Telegraph lines did not penetrate everywhere. In 
many a village the report of the firing on- Fort Sumpter 
was given to the people by the editor of the local paper, 
who, standing on a dry goods box, read from an exchange 
— a Burlington, Davenport, or Dubuque paper, perhaps — 
the tidings that war had begun. 

Much the same course was followed all through the war. 
Even Keokuk, in 1861, had no telegraph connections, and 
it took a letter three to five days to reach Des Moines. 

During the first three years, especially, of the war, Iowa 
was troubled by foes within, as well as those without. In 
the State was a strong party of Southern sympathizers. 
Governor Kirkwood was hampered by them, and even his 
efforts to sell Iowa bonds were thwarted. In the summer 
of 1 861 meetings were held in Des Moines, in Marion 
County, and elsewhere, when the administrations of Gov- 
ernor Kirkwood and President Lincoln were denounced, 
and treasonable resolutions were passed. At Ossian the 
Confederate flag was raised ! Governor Kirkwood received 
many threatening letters. 

Soon it came about that the southern portion of the State, 
especially the counties bordering Missouri, were in a state 
of ferment. The loyal citizens residing there sent appeals 
to the governor for protection. They wanted arms with 
which to defend themselves. So Governor Kirkwood's du- 
ties were increased. 

Missouri was a seat of war, for the State was beset with 
slavery adherents, and espousers of the cause of the Con- 
federacy. In addition, the ''border ruffians," formerly rav- 



SOME IOWA WAR SCENES. 271 

aging Kansas, now roved hither and thither through Mis- 
souri, ostentatiously enrolled under the Confederate flag, 
but usually pillaging either side, regardless of right or 
wrong. 

Thus Iowa had to watch out for guerillas, besides the 
"Copperheads". 

''Copperheads" was the name applied to the Confederate 
sympathizers. It referred to the deadly moccasin snake, 
and indicated contempt. '"^Copperheads" denoted their pro- 
pensities by wearing suits of butternut jeans, or a badge 
of half a butternut, or a copper cent as a breast pin. Keo- 
kuk County, with its forks of the Skunk River, was the most 
rabid "Copperhead" stronghold of Iowa. 

Saturday, August i, 1863, a "Copperhead" meeting was 
held on the English River, in Keokuk County. The meet- 
mg was conducted by the Rev. George Cyphert Tally, a 
Baptist minister, whose father was a Tennesseean, and who 
was a strong Southerner. Not far away was the town of 
South English. It was stoutly Union, and it is not strange 
that a clash occurred. On the afternoon of this day the 
"Copperheads" started for the town. Threats had been 
made to "clean out" the Union people, and when the men, 
many with butternut clothing and copper pins, entered 
South English, they were met with hoots and defiance. 

Tally rode in the first wagon, pistol and bowie knife ready 
in his hands. Taunts were exchanged, for the Union ele- 
ment of Iowa hated the "Coperheads" as traitors and 
cowards. 

The taunts led to shooting. Tally shot three times, and 
then fell dead, with several bullets in his body. 
The occurrence created much excitement. Governor 



272 THE MAKING OF IOWA. 

Kirkwood was asked to send troops, which he did promptly, 
and came himself, to see what could be done. The effect of 
the shooting, and the investigation which followed, was to 
quiet matters in Keokuk County. 

In Fremont County, also, scenes of violence were wit- 
nessed, while numerous murders in other portions of 
southern Iowa still farther horrified the people. In 1864 
parties of guerillas, deserters and ''Copperheads" ravaged 
Davis, Poweshiek and Mahaska Counties, waylaid peaceable 
farmers, robbed them, stole horses, and killed returned 
Union soldiers. The men who entered Davis County were 
from Missouri, and were disguised in Federal uniforms. 

Ruffians and other disreputable characters in the vicinity 
of the two Skunk rivers organized themselves into the 
''Skunk River Army", and committed many depredations. 
But they were too cowardly to do all they might have done. 

So far as possible the governor armed the counties of the 
two tiers along the Missouri border, not only to restrain the 
"Copperheads", but also to guard against invasion from 
Missouri. For a time the fortunes of the Union cause in 
Missouri hung in the balance, and it looked as though Iowa 
might be stormed by Confederate forces. While this crisis 
was on, in many a town of Iowa companies of men were 
constantly tmder arms ; even in the interior the alarm was 
so great that guards lay out in the woods and fields all 
night, watching for the enemy. 

Aside from the incursions by the ruffianly guerillas, and 
the murders by the "Copperheads", the tide of war touched 
Iowa soil only once. That was the battle of Athens, fougfi't 
August 5, 1861, 



CHAPTER XXXIII. 



THE BATTLE OF ATHENS. 



Really, the so-called battle of Athens was but a skirmish, 
yet a number of lives were lost. 

In the State of Missouri both Union recruits and Con- 
federate recruits were being enlisted, for the Missourians 
were pretty well divided on the questions of the war. 
"Sesesh" was the popular name for the Confederates, be- 
cause they favored secession, or the withdrawal from the 
Union by the Southern States. 

On account of both parties in the war having adherents 
in good numbers in Missouri, collisions between armed 
bodies of men were frequent. 

About twenty miles northwest of Keokuk, on the right 
bank of the Des Moines River, in Clarke County, Mis- 
souri, is the town of Athens. Here, in July and August, 
1 86 1, was Colonel David Moore with about five hundred 
volunteers — mostly the First Northeast Missouri Regiment 
of Volunteer Home Guards. 

The *'Sesesh" had quarters at the town of Cahoka, about 
ten miles south of Athens. A number of skirmishes had oc- 
curred between recruiting details, and between detachments 
enlisted on the two sides. Home guards had been formed on 
either side of the boundary line between Iowa and Missouri. 

August I thirty-five tons of provisions were sent to 
Athens on the Des Moines Valley Railroad, and at the 
same time a quantity of muskets and ammunition. The 

273 



274 THE MAKING OF IOWA. 

Confederates heard of this, and determined to attack Athens 
and capture the supphes. August 2 messengers arrived at 
Athens, bringing news of the plans of the *'Sesesh," and 
Sunday evening, August 4, another messenger came with 
word that the onslaught was to be made the next day. 

Colonel Moore prepared to give the enemy a warm re- 
ception. At the same time much excitement was occasioned 
in Iowa, for if Athens was taken, the Confederates might 
cross the river and pillage the country. The report got 
abroad that the Confederates were determined to attack and 
sack Keokuk itself. 

In Farmington, Keokuk, and the other towns in Lee 
and Van Buren Counties, there was scurrying to and fro, to 
be ready to repel invasion. 

Opposite Athens is Croton, Iowa. Here quite a throng 
assembled to watch operations. The bluff on the Iowa side 
of the Des Moines furnished a fine amphitheater. 

The "Sesesh" were under the command of Martin E. 
Green. As most of the soldiers on either side were Mis- 
sourians, and recruited from northern Missouri, families 
were divided ; brother was arrayed against brother, father 
against son. Under Colonel Green was Captain Moore, the 
son of Colonel Moore of the Union volunteers. While the 
Confederates were on the march an officer remarked, in the 
hearing of Captain Moore : 

"Oh, we'll take Athens easy enough. Old Moore wont 
fight." 

"Don't you fool yourself," spoke up the son. "I know 
dad, and he'll give you all the fighting you want." 

He did, too. 

Colonel Green planted two cannon on the bluff, behind 



THE BATTLE OF ATHENS. 275 

Athens, and at 5 130 o'clock on the morning of August 5 
these opened fire, while the infantry attacked the Moore 
forces. The cannon balls flew too high. Instead of hitting 
the enemy, they passed over the heads of the Union soldiers, 
crossed the river, and struck the Croton bluiT. The women 
and children here scattered, and hid in the ravines. 

The greater part of the fighting took place in the corn- 
fields around Athens. Under Colonel Moore were forty 
sharpshooters from Farmington. At the depot in Croton 
a body of Croton Home Guards and Keokuk volunteers 
had been stationed. During the battle these troops were 
marched into a sugar camp on the river bank ; from this 
they fired across the river into the Confederates in a corn- 
field, and inflicted considerable loss. 

Colonel Green had promised his men : 

''We breakfast in Athens, dine in Croton, and sup in 
Farmington." 

But they didn't, for in an hour and a half they were de- 
feated and retreating. The Union troops pursued them a 
short distance, and then returned to Athens. The Confed- 
erate sympathizers in Athens had prepared to welcome Col- 
onel Green's command. Chickens had been roasted, and 
pies and cakes baked. These with other goodies had been 
laid away in the cellars until the victory had been won. 

But Colonel Green's men did not stay to taste these deli- 
cacies. Instead, the Northeast Missouri Regiment of Vol- 
unteer Home Guards, the Farmington sharpshooters, the 
Croton Home Guards and the doughty Keokuk volunteers 
fell to and celebrated at the expense of the unlucky "Se- 
sesh" women. Colonel Green and force were heading in 
the wrong direction. 



276 THE MAKING OF IOWA. 



It is said the Union loss in the battle of Athens was foui' 
killed ; three wounded badly ; twenty wounded slightly 
Confederate loss much more. 

However, figures in different accounts differ greatly. 

Colonel Moore captured thirty horses, and the cannon 
left behind in the bushes. 

While the struggle was in progress a number of fright- 
ened and wounded Unionists fled across the river. Some 
of these were so demoralized that they cried to all they met : 

"Look out, the rebels are coming! The rebels are com- 
ing!" 

A few ran clear to Keokuk and Montrose, spreading the 
tidings that Colonel Moore had been defeated, and that the 
Confederates were right at their heels. 



CHAPTER XXXIV. 



IN CLOSING. 



The course of the great commonwealth of Iowa has now 
been traced through all stages of our history until, as a 
State among States, the day came when she sent forth 80,000 
of her sons to do battle for the Nation. The story of her 
heroism is yet to be told. The State thought no sacrifice 
too great, whether of blood or treasure, in defense of the 
flag, and in maintaining the integrity of the Nation. Iowa 
has every reason to be proud of her record during the War 
of the Rebellion. There remains much to be told of her 
career from the beginning of the Civiil War to the present 
time. But it is the purpose of this volume merely to sketch 
the awakening of Iowa and her swift rousing to lusty 
strength. 

Tempered and welded by the flame of battle, she emerged 
from the Civil War period to take her place among the fore- 
most independencies forming the United States. She has 
been tried and not found wanting. Her progress, rapid, 
sure and unfaltering from the little Zion Church at Burling- 
ton to the magnificent $3,000,000 capitol at Des Moines, is 
typical of the growth of the State. 

The future of Iowa is largely in the hands of the chil- 
dren who read this book. The character of the citizenship 
which they attain will be also the character of the State. 

277 



278 THE MAKING OF IOWA. 

On the stone which Iowa contributed to the Washington 
Monument, and on the face of the soldiers' monument at 
Des Moines is this inscription. May it be as true at the 
close of the 20th century as it is to-day. "Iowa — her affec- 
tions, like the rivers of her borders, flow to an insepara- 
ble union." 



INDEX. 



Agency City, 122. 

Ahwipetuck, school at, 169. 

Algonquins, 32. 

Allen, Capt., 43, 133. 

Am ana colony, 219. 

Appanoose, chief, 66. 

Athens, battle of, 273. 

Baneemyism, 217. 

Beach, John, 122. 

Belle Vue, garrison at, 124. 

Big Bear, chief, 73. 

Black Bird, chief, 109. 

Black Hawk, chief, 47, 72, 102, 

125, 138. 
Black Hawk Purchase, 24, 146. 
Black Hawk Spring, 53. 
Black Hawk Strip, 147. 
Black Hawk War, 52. 
Black Hawk Watch Tower, 55. 
Blondeau, Maurice, 97, 104. 
Boone, Nathaniel, 132. 
Border ruffians, 241. 
Boundary dispute, (Missouri), 201. 
Briggs, Gov. Ansel, 199. 
Brown, Old John, 253-261. 
Browne, Capt. Jesse, 132, 194. 
Bruguier, Theophile, 111. 
Burgwin, Capt., 134. 
Butler Hotel, 197. 
Cabots, 11. 

Caldwell, Chief Billy, 64. 
Campbell, Isaac, 97. 



Campbell's Island, 51, 140. 
Campbell, Lieut., 51, 138. 
Capitals, Burlington, 189, 193; 

Belmont, 189; Iowa City, 197; 

Des Moines, 197. 
Cartier, Jaques, 11, 80. 
Chambers, Gov. John, 43, 263. 
Chouteau, Pierre, 118; Auguste, 

91. 
Churches, early, 176. 
Church, Mrs. W. L., 236. 
Civil War, raising troops, 266; 

troubles in Iowa, 270. 
Clarke, Lieut., 100, 106, 136. 
Clarke, Gov. James, 263. 
Constitutions, 27, 250. 
Copperheads, 271. 
Coppoc, Barclay, 262. 
Council BluEs, origin of name, 

103; blockhouse, 134. 
Courts, early, 182. 
Cubbage, George, 171. 
Dakotahs, 32. 

Davenport, Col. George, 99, 117. 
Davis, JeflEerson, 53, 136, 146. 
Decorah, One-eyed, 63. 
Des Moines county, 21. 
Des Moines River Imp., 224. 
De Soto, 12. 
De Vaca, 80. 
Dubuque county, 21. 
Dubuque, diocese of, 178. 



279 



280 



THE MAKING OF IOWA. 



Dubuque, early settlement of, 19, 
144. 

Dubuque, Julien, 87, 103. 

Dunn, Juage Charles, 183. 

Dutch colonists, 219. 

Eddyville, 67, 119. 

Erwin, Judge David, 183. 

Ewing, William, 101. 

Expelling settlers, 145. 

Fletcher, Jonathan, 122. 

Flint Hills, 21. 

Floyd, Ser. Charles, 109. 

Forts, Madison, 49, 52, 124; Arm- 
strong, 24, 51, 112, 141; Rac- 
coon, 133; Clarke, 133; Dodge, 
133; Crawford, 77; Fenwick, 
134; Shelby, 117 ;Croghan, 134; 
Edwards, 112; Des Moines, 132, 
133; Atkinson, 122, 133. 

Free Soldiers, 241. 

Fugitive Slave law, 244. 

Gaillard, Basil, 94. 

Gardner family, 233. 

Gardner, Abigal, 239. 

General stores, 120. 

Gilbert, John, 119. 

Grimes, Gov. James W., 199, 242. 

Half Breed tract, 113. 

Hard Fish, chief, 58, 67. 

Hart's Bluff, 119 

Hawkeye, origin of name, 168. 

Hemstead, Gov. Stephen, 195. 

Honey War, 203. 

Honori, Louis, 94, 101. 

Howe, academy, 175; Samuel L., 
175. 

Hummer's Bell, 181. 



Hungarian colonists, 219. 

Huyomeka, chief, 69. 

mini, 34, 84. 

Immigration, 149. 

Indiana Ter., 18. 

Indian battles, 71. 

Indian treaties, 24, 37, 40, 41, 42, 

43, 44, 147. 
Inghram, Zadoc, 171. 
Inkpadutah, 69, 231. 
Iowa county, 20. 
Iowa District, 21. 
Iowa Ter., 22. 
lowas, 35, 71. 
lowaville, 35, 52. 
James, Dr. Edward, 246. 
Jennings, Berryman, 169. 
Joliet, 11, 34, 79. 
Keokuk, chief, 47, 56, 73. 
Keokuk Reserve, 25. 
Kearny, Col., 132. 
Kettle Chief, 88. 
Kingsley, Lieut., 124. 
Kirkwood, Gov. Samuel J., 266. 
Kishkekosh, chief, 67, 73. 
Kneeland, Abner, 217. 
La Salle, 12. 
Lincoln in Iowa, 250. 
Louisiana District, 18. 
Louisiana Ter., 12, 15. 
Louisiana, Upper, 14. 
Langworthys, 144. 
LeClaire, Antoine, 25, 97. 
Lee, Lieut. Robert E., 136. 
Legislature, first, 193. 
Lemoiliese, 97, 110. 
Lewis, Capt., 100, 106. 



INDEX. 



281 



Livingston, Robert, 17. 
Loras, Bishop Mathias, 178. 
Lucas, Gov. Robert, 191, 202. 
Mahaska, chief, 60. 
Marquette, 11, 34, 79. 
Mascoutins, 34, 76, 81. 
Mason, Judge Charles, 193. 
Maxon house, 249, 257. 
Mazzuchelli, friar, 178. 
Menomonies, 68, 81. 
Mexican war, Iowa in, 263. 
Michigan Ter., 20. 
Militia, first review of, 205. 
Miller, Daniel, and Mormons, 209. 
Mines of Spain, 91. 
Missouri Compromise, 241. 
Missouri Ter., 18. 
Monkaushka, chief, 69. 
Mormons, 208; leave Nauvoo,212; 

in Mexican War, 265. 
Mound Builders, 31. 
Muir, Dr. Samuel, 97, 112. 
0' Conner, Patrick, 19. 
O'Keaf, George, 19. 
Old Strip, 147. 
Orleans Ter., 18. 
Neswage, chief, 74. 
Nesseaskuk, 54, 59. 
Neutral Ground, 38. 
New France, 11. 
New Lands, 26. 
New Orleans, 13, 15. 
New Purchase, 43, 147; rush into, 

148. 
New Spain, 12. 
Newspaper, first, 188. 
Palmer, Mrs. Rebecca, 171. 



Pasishamone, chief, 68. 

Pashepaho, chief, 64, 72, 126. 

Peahmuska, chief, 68, 76. 

Perkins, Lieut. Joseph, 136. 

Phelphs, S. S. andW., 119. 

Physicians, early, 187. 

Pike, Lieut., 92, 100. 

Poor Camp, 214. 

Pattawattamies, 38. 

Poweshiek, chief, 67. 

Prairie du Chien, 88. 

Puckeshetuck, 169. 

Quakers, 249. 

Quashquame, chief, 68, 126. 

Railroads, 227. 

Rantchewaime, 60. 

Rector, Stephen, 138. 

Red Bird, chief, 96. 

River craft, early, 221. 

Riggs, Lieut., 138. 

Robinson, I. K., 169. 

Roberts, Robert G., 195. 

Rock Island (island), 48, 51, 78, 

140. 
Ross, Dr., 171. 

Sacs and Foxes, 35, 71, 73, 76. 

Saukenuk, 36, 43. 

Schools, early, 169, 

Scott, Winfield, 134. 

Second Purchase, 42, 147. 

Settlers, life, amusements, etc , 

152-168. 

Sidominadotah, 69, 231. 

Sioux, 37, 39, 73. 

Sioux Bluff, 76. 

Skunk river army, 272. 

Slavery In Iowa, 242. 



282 



THE MAKING OF IOWA. 



Smart, Josiah, 111. 

Smith, Hon. Jeremiah, 190. 

Socialistic Commonwealth, 217. 

Spirit Lake massacre, 231. 

Springfield, fight at, 236. 

Stages, 226. 

Stark, Capt., 128. 

Statehood, vote on, 26. 

Steamboats, first, 223. 

Stoddard, Capt., 15. 

Street, Joseph, 122. 

Sumner, Col. E. V., 132. 

Taimah, 67. 

Tally, Rev. George, 271. 

Taylor, Zachary, 51, 136, 140, 

145. 
Trading posts, 121. 
Underground railroad, 247. 



Vasquez, Ensign, 128, 129. 
Wabokieshiek, prophet, 52. 
Wacoshaushee, chief, 74. 
Wanata, chief, 69. 
Wapashashiek, chief, 68. 
Wapello, chief, 64. 
War Eagle, chief, 69, 111. 
Waukon-Decorah, chief, 63. 
Western Wisconsin, 21. 
Williams, Judge Joseph, 183. 
Williams, Maj. William, 237. 
Wilson, Judge T. S., 183. 
Winnebagoes, 38. 
Winneshiek, chief, 62. 
Winnebago cape, 78. 
Whittemore, Barrett, 171, 
Zion church, 193. 



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"The end of Government is the happiness of the people." — Macaulay. 

IOWA AND THE NATION 

A TEXT BOOK IN CIVIL GOVERNMENT 
By GEO. CHANDLER, Superintendent of Public Schools, Osage, Iowa 



D 



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Part I. of the book contains a clear, concise treatment of the 
GOVERNMENT OF IOWA 

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GENERAL GOVERNMENT 

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